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THE 



SCIENCE OF GOYERNMENT 



IK CONNXCTIOX WITH 



AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS. 



ITEW EDITION 



^y BY 

JOSEPH ALDEIS", D.D., LL.D., 

/« 

PRESIDENT OF STATE KOKMAIi SCHOOL. ALBANT, N. Y., ArTHOR OF 

•*THE TOITNO CITIZEN'S MANUAL," "AN INTRODCCTIOST 

TO THE USE or THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE," 

"studies IN BRrANT," ETC^ 







" ^1 






NEW YORK: 
SHELDON & COMPANY, 

No. 8 MURRAY STREET. 

1876. 



o^ WaSH^ 



^G^ 






KS 

DE. ALDEN'S TEXT-BOOKS 

ON THE 

SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

I. 

THE SOIENCB OF GOVERNMENT in connection with 
American Institutions. By Joseph Alden, D. D., LL. D., 
President of the " State Normal School," Albany. One 
volume, 12mo, Price $1.50. Adapted to the wants of High 
Schools and Colleges. 

II. 

THE YOUNG CITIZEN'S MANUAL. Being a primary 
test-book on the Science of Government. By Joseph 
Alden, D. D., LL. D. Price 50 cents. This book is in the 
form of questions and answers, and is adapted to the wants 
of Common and Primary Schools. 

The New York Independent says : 

" There is no more important study than the sttidy of tho 
institutions of our own country, and there is no book on 
the subject so clear, comprehensive and complete in itself 
as the volume before us." 



Coptrjsh:^. 

8HBLDON & COMPANY. 

1878. 



HOE. JOSEPH WHITE, 

SECRETART OF THE BOARD OF EBTJCATION OP 
MASSACHUSETTS I 

Your counsel and encovrragement led me to give, 
in my college teaching, greater prominence to studies 
adapted to prepare young men to perforin their duties 
as citizens of the United States than is xisually given 
in our Colleges. In view of that fact, and of your 
zeal and labors in the cause of education and govern- 
ment, I heg leave to inscribe to you this effort to aid 
my young cotintrymen in preparing themselves for 

the work before them. 

Joseph Alden. 



PREFACE. 



The importance of the study of the Science 
of Government in a country where every one has 
an influence in the affairs of government, does 
not need to be argued. Books suitable for its 
study in our educational institutions should be 
furnished. This volume is designed as a text- 
book for our higher institutions. It contains, in a 
compact form, the facts and principles which ev- 
ery American citizen ought to know. It may be 
made the basis of a brief, or of an extended 
course of instruction, as circumstances may re- 
quire. Though primarily designed as a text- 
book, the general reader will find every portion 
of it perfectly intelligible. 



PUBLISHEES' NOTICE. 



This edition of ''The Science of Goveeis"- 
MEKT," is printed from new plates. 

So many copies of this yaluable text book haye 
been printed and sold that the stereotyped plates 
were worn out. 

All necessary corrections have been made by tho 
author. 

A chapter has been added on Parliamentary 
Eules. 

The paging in this edition corresponds with 
that of previous editions. 



OOE'TEE'TS. 



>»■ 



CHAPTER I. 

PACB 

Object and Necessity of Government.— Origin of Civil Society. 
— ^The Social Compact, — Goverament a Divine Institution. 
Justice the Fundamental Law. — Sovereign Power Vested in 
thePeople 9 

CHAPTER II. 

The Eight of Suffrage.— Universal Suffrage.— Limited Suffrage 

— The True Principle. — An Analogy 18 

CHAPTER in. 

Liberty and Law.— Different Forms of Government.— Monarchy 
Absolute and Limited.— Hereditary and Elective. — Aris- 
tocracy. — Republic 21 

CHAPTER IV. 

Theories of Representation.— Representative Instruction. — Re- 
lation of Human to Divine Law.— Right of Revolution 28 

CHAPTER V. 

Colonial Governments. — Continental Congress. — Revolutionary 

Government ^^ 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Confederation ^ 

CHAPTER VIL 

Formation of tbe Constitution 52 

CHAPTER VIIL 

Adoption of tbe Constitution 70 



8 THE SCIE2?CE OF GOVEK2f3XEI»T. 

CHAPTER IX. 

rACB 

The Nature of the Constitution T7 

CHAPTEE X. 
Congress.— House of Eepresentatives 65 

CHAPTER XI. 
The Senate „ . . oe 

CHAPTER XII. 
Powers of Congress 115 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Prohibitions on Congress and the States 132 

CHAPTER XIV. 
The Executive Department 146 

CHAPTER XV. 
The Executive (continued) 153 

CHAPTER XVI. 
The Judicial Department 172 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Treason. — Citizenship.— Admission of New States.— Amendments. 190 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Amendments I59 

CHAPTER XIX. 
The Constitutions of the States 208 

CHAPTER XX. 
International Law 220 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Different Elinds of Law 233 

CHAPTER XXn. 
Parliamentary Rules 240 



THE 



SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 



CHAPTER I. 

OBJECT AND NECESSITY OF GOVERNMENT — ORIGIN OF CIVIL 
SOCIETY — THE SOCIAL COMPACT — GOVERNMENT A DIVINK 
INSTITUTION — JUSTICE THE FUNDAMENTAL LAW — SOVE- 
REIGN POWER VESTED IN THE PEOPLE. 

Government lias for its great object the mainte- 
nance of justice among men. That men may live 
together in peace, there must be laws restraining 
them from injustice, and protecting them in the enjoy- 
ment of their rights. The office of government is to 
make and execute such laws. 

Civil society cannot exist without government. 
By civil society is meant men living together in a 
social civilized state. Men cannot live together in 
such a state without government. Experience shows 
that some men are disposed to do injustice to others, 
1* 



10 THE scie:n:ce oe goverkmekt. 

and must be restrained by laws. Were there no laws, 
every one could do as he pleased. The wicked could 
defraud, rob and murder with impunity. Such a 
state of things is called a state of anarcliy. 

Civil society is an institution of God — is of divine 
origin. God made men to live together in a social 
civilized state. He gave them a social and moral 
nature, which makes that condition their natural 
condition. He has given man desires and capacities 
which can find exercise only in society. The solitary 
or savage state is not the natural state of man. 

The social civilized state is necessary to the 
full development of man's physical, intellectual, social, 
and moral nature. The solitary state is an impossibility, 
that is, all men could not lead solitary lives. If the 
attempt were made, the race would become extinct. 
The savage state is possible. Savage tribes do exist, 
but savages are in all respects inferior to civilized 
men. They have not those means of guarding the 
body from disease which civilized men have. Their 
intellectual, social, and moral powers are very imper- 
fectly developed. Man's powers are developed by 
exercise, and the savage state does not furnish the 
conditions of that exercise. It will be admitted that 
God makes nothing in vain. It is as plainly His will 
that man's nature should be developed, as it is that 
the fruit-tree should grow and bring forth fruit. The 
civilized state alone furnishes the conditions for the 



THE SCIEK'CE OF GOVEENMElirT. 11 

proper exercise and development of all man's powers. 
Therefore, God designed that men should live in 
civilized society. 

Civil society, or the State, then, is not a vol- 
untary association, as some have taught. It did not 
originate in a social compact, that is, in an agreement 
to abandon the solitary and savage state, and to adopt 
the civilized state. Writers on government, and 
legislators, sometimes refer to ^' the social compact " 
as though, it were an historical fact. History gives 
no account of ^Hhe social compact." No one ever 
asserted that such an event ever took place. And yet 
some have referred to this fiction as the ground of our 
obedience to law. 

It is said that by " the social compact " men agree 
to relinquish a portion of their natural rights on con- 
dition of being protected in the enjoyment of the re- 
maining portion, and to render obedience to the laws. 
It is said that their obligation to be subject to the 
restraints of societv, is founded on their consent to the 
social compact — the formal consent of the framers 
of the compact, and the tacit consent of all succeeding 
generations. 

Now, as no such compact was ever formed, it can- 
not be the ground of any obligation whatever, The 
fundamental laws of civil society — the laws or rules 
of justice, do not owe their authority tg the consent 
of the governed. 



12 THE SCIE2JCE OF GOVEKKMEKT. 

Men become members of civil society — of the 
State — by the act of God. He created man a social 
being and a subject of law. Men have no right to 
abjure society, throw oS. its restraints, and lead soli- 
tary lives. No man has a riglit to be a brute, or any 
thing but a man. In order to be a man, he must bo 
a member of society, and subject to law. 

Suppose all men were to meet together in one vast 
convention, and to vote unanimously to abolish so- 
ciety, and government, and law of every kind : would 
such a vote have any authority ? Certainly not. The 
obligation to live in society and have government, 
would not be aSected by such a vote, or by any thing 
that men can do. God's will does not depend upon 
the will of men. It is j^lainly his will that men 
should live together and enjoy the benefits resulting 
from obedience to righteous laws. 

The State may be considered apart from govern- 
ment, though they usually coexist. They always co- 
exist, except in those rare periods when anarchy pre- 
vails. Goverumetit is the agent by which the State 
ordinarily acts. The State performs extraordinary 
acts when it abolishes one form of government and 
institutes another. The acts of the State, by which 
governments arc made and unmade, are termed acts 
of original sovereignty. 

Government is a divine institution — is of divine 
origin. This appears from the fact that the State is a 



THE SCIE^fCE QF GOYERXME^s^T. 13 

divine institution, and is nnder obligation to have gov- 
ernment. God is the author of man's nature. The 
State is the necessary result of man's nature. Gov- 
ernment is the necessary result of tlie State. There- 
fore government is of God. *^The powers that be," 
that is, the legitimate powers of government, " are 
ordained of God" (Rom. xiii. 1). God is the author 
of government, just as He is the author of the forest 
that clothes the mountain's side. The one is the result 
of His moral laws, the other is the result of His physi- 
cal laws. 

Justice is the fundamental idea of the State. All 
its regulations should be but the applications of the 
principle of Justice. In other words, all its rules 
should be just rules. If all men would practice jus- 
tice, they could live together in peace without a legal 
code. That men should do that which is just is a 
self-evident truth. As the State is under obligation 
to secure justice to its members, it is under obligation 
to use the means best adapted to secure that end. 
Government is a necessary means of securing justice, 
hence^ again we see that the State is under obligation 
to have government, j In other words, government is 
necessary in order that man may be such a being as 
God designed he should be. ~j 

The sovereign, or supreme j^oiver, resides in the 
State, not in the government. Government derives 
its powers from the State. The power of the State is 



14 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

limited by its fundamental law— the law of justice. 
The State has no rightful power to form an unjust 
govei'nment, or to perform any unjust act. 

The State gives to government its powers. It is 
under obligation to give to it such posters as are best 
adapted to enable it to subserve the ends of justice 
and public prosperity. 

The sovereign, or supreme power, belongs to the 
State, that is, to the people who constitute the State. 
The sovereign power belongs to the people, not in 
their individual, but in their collective capacity. The 
State possessing sovereign power may have a million 
members. It does not follow that each individual 
possesses one-millionth part of the sovereign power, 
or is thereby constituted the one-millionth part of a 
sovereign. 

The relation of individuals in the State to the sov- 
ereign power may be illustrated by a joint-stock com- 
pany. An insurance company has power to make 
contracts for insurance. Suppose there are ten mem- 
bers. They, or a majority of them acting as a com- 
pany, can make a contract, or authorize their agents 
to do so ; but one of their number cannot make one- 
tenth part of a contract. The whole power of the 
company belongs to the ten members (not of necessity 
equally), but the whole power cannot be divided into 
ten parts, each part being wielded separately by 



THE SCIEiq'CE OF GOVERNMENT. 15 

individuals. Such a course of proceeding would de- 
feat the end for which the company was formed. 

In like manner, the whole power of the State be- 
longs to the members of the State — the individuals 
composing the State ; but this power is not divisible 
among those individuals, to be wielded separately by 
each. Such a course of proceeding, were it possible, 
would defeat the ends for which the State exists. 



CHAPTER 11. 

THE RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE — UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE — LIMITED 
SUFFRAGE — THE TRUE PRINCIPLE — AN ANALOGY. 

The state as we have seen, is under obligation to 
appoint an agency, viz., government, to wield a portion 
of its power. Has every member of the State a voice 
in designating those who shall exercise the powers of 
government ? in other words, has every one a right to 
vote for those who shall rule over him ? 

Some think that the right to vote is an attribute 
of humanity — that every one has a right to vote be- 
cause he is a man. This is denied by others ; hence 
the burden of proof rests on those who make the af- 
firmation. They have no right to assume it as a self- 
evident truth. 

If the riglit to vote it an attribute of humanity, 
then women have a right to vote as well as men. 

It is said by some, that as every man is bound to 
render obedience to tlie law, every man should have 
a voice in choosing those who make the laws. It is 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERXMEinT. 17 

assumed that a man cannot rightfully be held subject 
to the laws, unless he has giyen his consent to them 
by taking ];)art in choosing the law-makers. 

In reply to this, it is said, that man was created 
a subject of law. He is subject to the law of recti- 
tude. . His consent is not asked. LHe is born into the 
State, and is subject to its fundamental law — the law 
of justice. His consent is not asked. \ A man may as 
well object to being born without his consent, as to 
object to being subject to righteous laws without his 
consent. 

If none arc rightfully subject to the laws except 

those who have given their consent to them by voting 
for rulers, then women arc not rightfully subject to 
the laws. 

Others think that the right to vote is not an attri- 
bute of humanity. They think that the question as 
to who shall vote depends upon circumstances which 
vary with time and place. They reason tlius : The 
State is under obligation to have the best government 
possible. Hence the State, that is, the people, are 
under obligation to use the means best adapted to se- 
cure the best government possible. Among the means 
to be used is the choice of good rulers. Such a course 
should be taken in choosing them, as is best adapted 
to the end sought, viz., good rulers. If universal suf- 
fraore will secure the best rulers, then universal sufr 
frage ought to prevail. If a restricted suSrage will 



18 THE SCIE3S"CE OF QOVERKMENT* 

secure the best rulers, tlien a restricted suffrage ought 
to prevail. 

If the decision be in favor of a restricted suffrage, 
the same principle will determine the nature of the 
restrictions. If limiting suffrage to those who possess 
a certain amount of property will secure the. best 
rulers, then that limitation should take place. It is 
for the interest of the man who is destitute of prop- 
erty, as much as it is for the interest of the man pos- 
sessed of property, that the best rulers should be se- 
cured. 

The advocates of a, property qualification do not 
contend that the possession of property makes a man 
more intelligent or more patriotic. He has a deeper 
interest in having a good government than he who has 
nothing to lose. He has an interest in having prop- 
erty secure, taxes light, and justice administered be- 
tween man and man. Men are strongly influenced by 
their interests. 

It has been proposed that those only should vote 
who can read and write. If such a provision would 
secure the choice of better rulers than would other- 
wise bo chosen, it should be adopted. It ought not, 
however, to be taken for granted, that the mere abil- 
ity to read and write will qualify one intellectually 
and morally to perform so important an act as that of 
selecting men to make and execute the laws, upon 
which the prosperity of a nation in a great measure 
depends. 



THE SCIENCE OF GOTEE>vME]JfT. 1^ 

Sappose there is a ship at sea with five hundred 
passengers on board. A storm sweeps the captain 
and all the officers oyerboard. Some one must take 
command of the ship, or all on board will be lost. He 
must have acknowledge of navigation, and the nerve 
requisite for command. There are few persons on 
board capable of forming a correct opinion respecting 
a man's knowledge of navigation, and his abilities to 
manage the ship. The great majority have no capa- 
city for forming such an opinion. Who shall choose 
the captain, the intelligent fcAv or the ignorant many ? 
Will it not be for the interest of all on board that 
he be chosen by those capable of judging as to his 
qualifications ? 

The majority may say, ** We have as much interest 
in the safety of the ship as those to whom it is pro- 
posed to limit the choice : our lives are as dear to us 
as theirs are to them." These assertions would doubt- 
less be true, but it would not follow that all should 
vote in the choice of a captain. The adoption of a 
course adapted to promote the highest safety of all, 
would not deprive the majority of any right. 

There is so7ne analogy between the supposed ship 
and the ship of State. It is for the interest of all 
that the best rulers be chosen. The adoption of a 
course the best adapted to secure that end would not 
infringe upon the rights of any. Every man has a 
right to be governed justly, but it does not follow 
that every man has a right to be a governor. 



20 THE SCIENCE OP GOVEKNMEKT. 

In the earlier periods of our history, the elective 
franchise was limited in all the Colonies and States. 
Soon after the adoption of the Federal Constitution, 
the tendency set toward universal suffrage. One State 
after another adopted it as they revised their constitu- 
tions, till now the right of suffrage is possessed by 
every citizen of the United States. 



^ 



CHAPTER in. 

LIBERTT AND LAW — DIFFERENT FORMS OF GOTERNMENT — ^MON- 
ARCHY ABSOLUTE AND LIMITED — HEREDITARY AND ELEC- 
TIVIS — ARISTOCRACY — REPUBLIC. 

Justice is the great end of goyemment. Let jus- 
tice be perfectly administered to a people, and all the 
conditions of national prosperity will follow, at least 
all that depend on the action of the government. To 
say that the gi*eat end of goTornment is to secure 
justice, is to say, in other words, that the great end 
of government is to secure liberty. 

Ijiberty is the result of law — not, as many suppose, 
of the absence of law. Many suppose that men are 
free only in proportion as they are without restraint. 
They suppose that so far as men are under law, they 
are without liberty. They suppose that men relin- 
quish a portion of their natural liberty in consequence 
of becoming members of the State and subjects of 
law. 

We have seen that men are born members of the 



22 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

State and subjects of law, and hence they never had 
any rights the result of not being subjects of law. It 
is true that a man in society is restrained from doing 
some things which he would be at liberty to do if he 
were a solitary being. But he was not created a soli- 
tary being, and hence has none of the natural rights 
of a solitary being. Hence he cannot relinquish the 
natural rights of a solitary being. The fish cannot 
claim that he relinquishes the right to fly in the air in 
order that he may swim in the water. Man cannot 
claim that he relinquishes the freedom of the solitary 
and the savage state, in order that he may become a 
civilized man. 

Xiavr secures, or is intended to secure, to a man 
all the liberty he can rightfully claim. He cannot 
claim liberty to live under water or to take poison. 
If the law forbids him to live under water or to 
destroy himself by taking poison, it does not thereby 
restrain his liberty. He was not made to live under 
water nor to take poison. The law forbids him to 
murder, but that does not abridge his liberty. He 
never had a right to murder* He cannot claim liberty 
to do wrong. So far as the law restrains him from 
doing wrong, it does not interfere with his liberty. 
So far as the law restrains him from doing what a be- 
ing made to live in society ought not to do, it does 
not interfere with his liberty. So long as it does not 
interfere with his rights, it does not interfere with his 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 23 

liberty. He has no right to do that -which is incon- 
sistent with the welfare of society. 

Every one has a right to claim protection from 
wrong doing on the part of others. The law which 
forbids wrong doing, furnishes this protection, if it be 
properly enforced. Security against wrong is an essen- 
tial element of civil liberty. Sir James Mackintosh's >if^ 
definition of liberty is "security against wrong. " 

Xo man can claim the rio^ht to do wrono;. He can 
claim freedom to do right. Now if he is permitted to 
do right in all things, and is restrained only from do- 
ing wrong, and is protected from wrong doing on the 
part of others, he has all the liberty he can ask. 

A perfectly just and wise system of laws would 
forbid every thing that is unjust in society — every 
thing socially wrong, and would permit every thing 
just in society— every thing socially right. If such 
a system were carried into perfect execution, it would 
furnish perfect security against wrong, and perfect • 
liberty to do right. The perfection of law would thus 
secure the perfection of liberty. 

Liberty does not, as some suppose, consist in the 
privilege of self-government, nor is it necessarily the 
result of the privilege of self-government. Men hav- 
ing the privilege of self-government may govern them- 
selves very badly. They may make unwise and un- 
just laws. Liberty, as we have seen, is the result of 
wise and just laws faithfully executed. 



24 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERN-MENT. 

A despotic government may make and execute 
wise and just laws. If this were done, men would for 
the time being enjoy liberty. It may be asked, can a 
government be a despotic and a free government at 
the same time ? Certainly not. A transient bestowal 
of liberty by a despotic government does not make 
that government a free government, any more than 
transient acts of charity by a miser make that miser 
a man of benevolence. In the case supposed there is 
no security for the continuance of liberty. Security 
against wrong, and not the transient absence of wrong, 
is essential to liberty. 
V Government is a means to an end. There arc 
different kinds of government. That is the best gov- 
ernment which is best adapted to secure the ends for 
which government is instituted. In determining what 
kind of government is best for a particular nation, the 
condition and circumstances of that nation should be 
• carefully observed. The best form of government 
for the United States would not be the best form for 
Caffraria. 

The different forms of government are classed un- 
der three heads; viz., Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Re- 
public. 

A monarchy is a government by a single joerson. 
''Monarch," says Worcester, "is a general term for 
one having sole authority, and is applied to the ruler 
of an absolute or limited monarchy, and he may be 



THE SCIEIS^CE OP GOVEKNMEl^T. 25 

styled a sovereign or potentate, and may have different 
titles. The following are the titles of the different 
monarchs of Europe ; Emperor, Czar, or Sultan, the 
ruler of an empire ; King or Queen, of a kingdom ; 
Prince, of a principality ; Grand Duke, of a grand 
duchy ; Dulce, of a duchy ; and Pope, of the popedom. " 

Monarchies are absolute and limited. In an 
absolute monarchy all power is possessed by the mon- 
arch. His will is the sole law. An absolute monarchy 
and a despotism are the same. 

An absolute monarchy, if the monarch be an 
able man, is a very efficient government. The power 
of a country can be more efficiently wielded by one 
mind than by many. Unity of counsel and promptness 
of decision cannot always be secured when several minds 
must act in concert. Kepublics have sometimes found 
it necessary to create a temporary dictator, that is, to 
clothe an officer with absolute power. The Eoman 
republic had frequent recourse to this expedient in 
times of great public danger. For a time during the 
war of the Ee volution, Washington was made a dicta- 
tor in reality though not in name. 

The absolute monarch is generally a tyrant. 
Men are too imperfect to be trusted with absolute 
power. 

In a limited monarchy, the power of the mon- 
arch is limited by the constitution and laws. A con- 
stitution is a fundamental law defining and limiting 
2 



26 THE SCIENCE OF GOVEEl^MENT. 

the powers of the government, to which law all other 
laws must be conformed. A constitution may be a 
written document, or it may consist of established 
usages. The constitution of Great Britain consists of 
established usages, yet its provisions are as well 
known as those of the constitution of the United 
States. In the limited monarchies of Europe, the 
powers of the monarch are, for the most part, as 
clearly defined as are those of the President of the 
United States. 

/ Monarchies are hereditary, or elective. 
All the monarchies of Christendom have adopted the 
hereditary principle. The oldest surviving son or 
nearest heir succeeds to the crown as soon as the 
monarch dies. It is a maxim of the British constitu- 
tion that " the king never dies." This means that the 
throne is never vacant. The moment the occupant 
dies, his heir is clothed with all the authority pertain- 
ing to the throne. In some countries, females are ex- 
cluded from the succession. 

An hereditary is preferable to an elective mon- 
archy. It is true that, on the hereditary principle, an 
incompetent or vicious person may succeed to the 

• throne. Experience has shown that the attendant 
evils are less than those connected with an election. 

Aristocracy '^is a form of government which pla- 
ces the supreme power in the nobles or principal per- 
sons, of the State." The uniform testimony of history 



THE SCIENCE OF GOYERXMEXT. 2? 

declares the aristocratical form of goyernment to be 
the worst form. 

A republic is *' that form of goyernment in 
which the supreme power is yested in the people, or in 
representatiyes elected by the people." When the 
power is directly exercised by the people, the goyern- 
ment is called a democracy. A pure democracy can 
exist only in a country of limited territorial extent. The 
colony of Plymouth was, for a time, a pure democracy. ■^ 
All the freemen met together to make laws. A law 
enacted in 1636 imposed a fine of three shillings ster- 
ling on eyery one failing to attend election, ^' without 
due excuse." When the population became so widely 
extended that it was inconyenient to meet in one 
body, the representatiye system was adopted. 

In some of the goyernments of Christendom, the 
three forms aboye noticed are more or less blended. 
The English goyernment is a limited monarchy, but 
in the House of Lords it has the aristocratical, and in 
the House of Commons the republican element. In 
that goyernment, the power of the republican element 
has been gradually increasing. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THEORIES OF KEPRESENTATION — REPRESENTATIVE INSTRUC- 
TION — RELATION OF HUMAN TO DIVINE LAW — RIGHT OF 
REVOLUTION. 

In a republic, the people elect representatives 
who make their laws. There are two theories of repre- 
sentation. The first, and commonly received theory, 
regards representation as a mere matter of con- 
venience. It teaches that representatives are elected 
by the people because it is not convenient for them to 
meet in a body and make the laws. 

The doctrine of rejjresentative instruction, which 
teaches that the representative is in all things to obey 
the will of his constituents, that he is to vote not 
according to his own judgment but according to the 
instructions of his constituents, is a logical inference 
from this theory of representation. If the representa- 
tive is elected to do what the people' would do, if it 
were convenient for them to assemble, then he is to do 
what the people tell him to do. 

It is objected to this doctrine that it makes the 



THE SCIENCE OF GOYERXMEXT. 29 

representative a mere automaton to register the 
decrees of a majority of his constituents. Suppose an 
important question comes before Congress relating to 
foreign affairs. A majority of his constituents wish him 
to vote for a measure which, from his superior means 
of information, he knows would be disastrous to the 
country. Xow, if the representatiye must obey the 
will of his constituents, he must act contrary to his 
own judgment, and commit an act of folly, perhaps 
of wickedness. Though he have the capacity of John 
Marshall or of Daniel Webster, he must yield his 
conyictions, the result of careful investigation and 
profound thought, to the will of men influenced, 
it may be, by their prejudices, or led by a crafty 
demagogue. 

It may be asked. Ought not the will of the peo- 
ple to be obeyed ? The will of the people should be 
obeyed when it is wise and right and constitutionally 
expressed. The people can act authoritatively in gov- 
ernment matters, in this country at least, only by 
means of the ballot-box. 

The people are not infallible. Ko individual is in- 
fallible. Hence no collection of individuals can be 
infallible. The voice of the people is not the voice 
of God. Many of the provisions of government are 
designed to prevent the hasty execution of the popu- 
lar will — are designed to give an opportunity for that 
** sober second thought" which is more nearly allied 



30 THE SCIEKCE OF GOVERi^MENT. 

to wisdom. The doctrine of representative instruc- 
tion goes far toward nullifying these provisions. 

Another theory of representation regards the rep- 
resentative as a professional agent, who is chosen to 
do certain things according to his best ability ; chosen 
to do them on account of liis ability. The people are 
under obligation to have good laws. Hence they are 
under obligation to use the means best adapted to 
that end. Hence they select good and wise men to 
make their laws. They select them that they may 
have the benefit of their superior wisdom. Of course 
they must be allowed to exercise that wisdom unfet- 
tered by instructions. They should be restrained only 
by the constitution and the laws made in accordance 
with the constitution. 

The duties of a legislator should be prescribed 
by the constitution ; not by the leaders of a party, nor 
by a majority under the control of said leaders. The 
representative should conform to the wishes of his 
constituents, so far as he can do so consistently with 
fidelity to their interests and those of the country. A 
desire to please them should not cause him to neglect 
the duties he was chosen to perform. 

A constitution is the fundamental law which 
determines the form of the government, and defines 
its powers. A State performs an original act of sov- 
ereignty when it establishes or abolishes a constitu- 
tion. If a constitution comes in conflict with justice, 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 31 

the grand constitutional law of the universe, it is null 
and void. The State cannot frame Injustice into a 
fundamental law. 

The povrers of government are limited by 
the constitution. The government can do that only 
which the constitution authorizes it to do. The legis- 
lature has no power to make a law contrary to the 
constitution. A law so made would possess no au- 
thority. It would be declared null and void by the 
tribunal authorized to do so by the constitution. 

No individual is authorized to say, This law is 
unconstitutional and therefore not binding ; I will not 
obey it. He is under obligation to obey every law 
(excepting those contrary to the law of God) until the 
authorized tribunal has decided that it is unconstitu- 
tional. Then it is null and void. 

Government cannot rightfully do any thing con- 
trary to the constitution, even though all the people 
were to desire it. The will of the people is supreme 
only when it is right and constitutionally expressed. 
The people can change their constitution, but only in 
the mode pointed out by the constitution. 

Constitutions should not be changed for slight 
causes. It is better to suffer some inconveniences than 
to lessen, by frequent changes, the reverence felt for 
the constitution. If constitutions could be changed 
as easily as ordinary laws, they would have no more 
value than ordinary laws. 



32 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

Constitutional law is the highest human law. 
The law of God is higher than all human law. If any 
part of the constitution, or if any law made in pur- 
suance thereof, is contrary to the law of God, it is null 
and void. *^ We ought to obey God rather than men." 
(Acts V. 39.) Government or the law can render that 
obligatory which was not previously obligatory, but it 
cannot change moral distictions. It cannot authorize 
one to do wrong. It cannot nullify the law of God. 

Questions relating to a conflict of the law of the 
land with the law of God, must be decided by each 
one for himself. There is no divinel}^ authorized tribu- 
nal for the decision of such questions. " Every one of 
us shall give account of himself unto God " (Rom. xiv. 
12). He must learn his duty for himself and do it. 
He must avail himself of all the assistance within his 
reach, but he must decide for himself. He cannot 
throw the responsibility of decision on the church or 
on the government. 

This will not, as some suppose, lead to anarchy. 
Some think that, for every one to decide for himself 
whether a law is contrary to the divine law or not, 
and to obey or disobey according to his decision, is to 
make obedience to law optional. One man, say they, 
will regard one law as conflicting with the divine 
law, and another will regard another law as conflict- 
ing. Thus every one will do that which is right in 
his own eyes. 



THE SCIEIS'CE OF GOVERi^MEITT. 33 

No such consequences will follow the proper exer- 
cise of the right of private judgment in regard to du- 
ties connected with obedience to law. Suppose the 
question to arise, Does this law come in conflict with 
the law of God ? does it enjoin what God has for- 
bidden ? If the conscientious man, on full considera- 
tion, comes to the conclusion that the law does en- 
join what God has forbidden, he will not obey it, but 
he will submit without resistance to the penalty at- 
tached to disobedience. He thus does not set the law 
at defiance. He yields a passive obedience by sub- 
mitting to the penalty. When every law is thus 
obeyed, either actively or passively, there is no danger 
of anarchy. 

Governments originating in fraud or violence 
may become legitimate, and may rightfully claim obe- 
dience. When they have become established and ful- 
fil the ends of government as well as any government 
which it mighfc be possible to establish, it is the duty 
of the people to obey those governments. It is cer- 
tainly their duty to obey the government they are 
under, till they can lawfully establish a better one in 
its place. A government may have no right to com- 
mand, and yet it may be the duty of the people to 
obey till there is a fair prospect that they can over- 
throw the government, and substitute a better one in 
its place, with less suffering than continued obedience 
would occasion. 
2* 



34 THE SCIENCE OF goveekme:st. 

Every act of injustice on the part of the govern- 
ment does not absolve the citizen from his obligation 
to obedience. Every act of oppression does not justify 
forcible resistance to the government. There is a 
right of revolution ; that is, there are times when it is 
right for a people to forcibly overthrow the govern- 
ment. These times cannot be accurately defined. The 
exact amount of oppression which justifies a revolution 
cannot be gauged and measured. It must be well-nigh 
intolerable, and there must be a fair prospect that a 
revolution will be saccessful. No amount of oppres- 
sion would justify an attempt at revolution when th^ere 
was no prospect of success. The attempt would only 
occasion greater suffering. The worst kind of govern- 
ment is better than anarchy ; that is, the worst kind 
of government is better than no government. An- 
archy is always followed by military despotism. 



CHAPTER Y. 

COLONIAL GOVERNMENT — CONTINENTAL CONGRESS — REVOLU- 
TIONARY GOVERNMENT. 

The colonial government had a powerful in- 
fluence in educating the American people for self-gov- 
ernment. 

The first representative Legislature in America sat 
in Virginia in 1619. Up to that time the people of 
that colony were governed by a governor and council 
appointed by the crown. As subjects of the king, and 
entitled to all the privileges of British subjects, they 
claimed the right to be represented in the government. 
The governor. Sir George Yeardly, called a general 
assembly of the representatives of the various planta- 
tions, and permitted them to act as a legislature. 

The Pilgrim Fathers, while on board the May 
Flower, at Cape Cod, drew up the following compact : 
" In the name of God, amen. We whose names are 
underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign 
lord King James, by the grace of God of Great Britain, 
France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. 
Having undertaken, for the glgry qi God and the ad- 



36 THE SCIE2!5-CE OF GOVERiq^MEN^T. 

vancement of the Christian faith, and the honor of our 
king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in 
the northern parts of Virginia, do, by these presents, 
solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and 
one another, covenant and combine ourselves together 
into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and 
preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid ; 
and by virtue hereof, do enact, constitute, and frame 
such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitu- 
tions, and officers, from time to time, as shall be 
thought most meet and convenient for the general 
good of the colony ; unto which we promise all due 
submission and obedience. In witness whereof, we 
have hereunto subscribed our names, at Cape Cod, the 
eleventh of J^ovember, in the reign of our sovereign 
lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, 
the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno 
Dom. 1620." 

This was signed by John Carver, William Bradford, 
Edward Winslow, William Brewster, Isaac Allenton, 
Miles Standish, John Alden, and thirty-four others. 

Under this compact they elected a governor and an 
assistant annually. Subsequently the number of assist- 
ants was increased to seven. " The supreme legisla- 
tive power resided in and was exercised by the whole 
body of the male inhabitants, every freeman who was 
a member of the church, being admitted to vote in all 
public affairs." This continued till 1629, when the 



THE SCIE2s'CE OF GOTERXMEXT. 37 

settlements had become so widely extended that it was 
inconvenient for the people to assemble for purposes 
of legislation. The representative system was then 
adopted. 

They thus continued to govern themselves till 1684, 
when an arbitrary government was established over 
them, in common with the other New England colo- 
nies. In 1691, the colony of Plymouth was joined to 
that of Massachusetts by the charter granted by Wil- 
liam and Mary. 

The colony of Massachusetts was planted 
under the auspices of a corporation or company in Eng- 
land. This company had power to elect a governor, 
and make rules for the regulation of the colony. Thus 
the government of the colony was in England. It was 
ere long agreed that the powers of the company should 
be transferred to the colony. Accordingly such per- 
sons as it was known designed to emigrate to the 
colony, were chosen officers. The charter provided 
that the government should be administered by a 
Governor, Deputy Governor, and eighteen assistants, 
elected out of the freemen of the company. By free- 
men of the company were meant the members of the 
company. Full legislative authority was given by the 
charter, only the laws passed must not be contrary to 
the laws of England. 

The officers chosen as above noticed came to 
America and brought the charter with them. Thus 



38 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

the colony of Massachusetts possessed the power to elect 
all its rulers and to legislate in regard to all matters, 
provided the legislation was not contrary to that of 
England. 

The governments of all the colonies were 
similar in that each had a goyernor, a council which con- 
stituted the upper house of the legislature, and a lower 
house elected by the people. There were, however, 
differences in their organization so great that Black- 
stone divided them into three classes, the Provincial, 
the Proprietary, and the Charter Governments. 

In the Provincial G-overnments, the king ap- 
pointed the governor, and gave him his instructions or 
powers. The king also appointed a council to assist the 
governor and to form the upper house of a legislature, 
when the governor summoned an assembly of represent- 
atives of the freeholders and planters. The governor 
had a negative on all the proceedings of the legislature, 
and could prorogue or dissolve them at pleasure. The 
legislature had authority to make local laws not con- 
trary to the laws of England. All such laws were sub- 
ject to ratification or disapproval by the crown. The 
governor and council had power to establish courts 
and appoint judges, to raise troops for defence, and to 
exercise martial law in time of invasion, war, and 
rebellion. All real power was thus in the hands of the 
king, or of those holding office at his will. 

The Proprietary Governments differed from 



THE SCIEis'CE OF GOYERXMEXT. 39 

the provincial chiefly in this, that the proprietary sus- 
tained toward the government and people a relation 
similar to that of the king in the provincial govern- 
ments. The governor was appointed hy the proprie- 
tary, and the legislatures assembled under his au- 
thority. 

In short, the proprietary exercised most of the 
powers which in the provincial governments belonged 
to the crown. 

The Charter Governments were those whose 
form and powers were defined by the charters granted 
by the king. A charter was to a colonial government, 
what a constitution is to a state government. In the 
original structure of the charters of the early colonies, 
no provision Avas made for a legislative body ; but the 
colonists, claiming all the rights and privileges of 
Englishmen, insisted on being represented in the gov- 
ernment. The consequence was, that in every colony 
there was a legislature modelled upon that of the 
mother country. 

It is true that in many cases the actual power 
possessed by the people, or their representatives, was 
very small. The English government did not know 
that the forms of liberty would bring the reality. 
The people were rendered familiar with elections, and 
with legislative and judicial proceedings. Hence, 
when the authority of the king was thrown ofi, they 
were prepared at once to replace such portions of the 



40 THE SCIEi^OE OF GOVEEKMEKT. 

machinery of government as were removed by that 
act. Hence there was no interregnum — no anarchy. 
Had it been the design of the English ministers to 
train the colonists to the exercise of independence, 
they could not have chosen a better course than the 
one pursued. 

The colonies were separate and independent of 
each other. They were united only in a common 
relation to the crown and mother country. Still, they 
were in many respects one people, and prepared to be- 
come so in all respects. Being fellow-subjects of the 
king, each colonist could inhabit every other colony, 
and inherit property in every other colony. 

As the colonists were entitled to all the privileges 
of Englishmen, they insisted that they could not be 
taxed without their consent — that taxes must be laid 
by the colonial assemblies. The denial of the power 
of taxation to parliament soon led to the denial of all 
power to legislate for the colonies. Massachusetts led 
the way in denying that parliament had any power 
over the colonies. Allegiance to the crown was ad- 
mitted ; subjection to parliament denied. 

On the other hand, parliament claimed supreme 
power over the colonies, and proceeded to exercise 
that power by passing laws for raising a revenue in 
the colonies. A stamp act was passed. It required 
the colonist to use stamped paper for all legal docu- 
ments. Stamped paper could be bought of the gov- 



THE SCIEJfCE OF GOVERXMEXT. 41 

ermnent only. The act created great excitement among 
the colonists, and was soon repealed. 

The attempt made to raise a revenue by imposing 
duties on articles imported, met with similar and even 
more determined opposition. Remonstrances and ap- 
peals to the king and parliament being without effect, 
Massachusetts recommended the assembling of a Con- 
tinental Congress to deliberate on the state of affairs. 
The recommendation was adopted by the colonies. 
Delegates were chosen in some cases by the lower 
houses of the legislatures, and in other cases by con- 
ventions of the people. This congress met in Phil- 
adelphia, Sept. 4, 1774. In this congress a rule was 
adopted which was adhered to till the adoption of the 
Federal Constitution. The rule gave to each colony 
one vote on questions coming before congress. This 
congress adopted a Declaration of Rights, and ad- 
dresses to the people of England and of the neighbor- 
ing colonies, and to the king, setting forth their griev- 
ances and claims for redress. 

A second congress assembled in May, 1775. The 
delegates were chosen partly by the popular branches 
of the legislatures, and partly by conventions of the 
people. 

This congress took measures for raising an army, 
and appointed Washington commander-in-chief. They 
authorized the emission of two million dollars in bills 
of credit, and published a solemn declaration of the 



4:3 THE SCIKN^CE OF aOVERKMEKT. 

causes of their taking up arms, an address to the king, 
and an address to the people of Great Britain. On 
July 4, 1776, they declared independence of Great 
Britain. 

From this time if not before, Congress assumed 
the poivers of a national government by the general 
consent of the people of the colonies. It assumed 
power to declare war and make peace, to authorize 
captures, to control military and naval operations, to 
form alliances and make treaties, to contract debts and 
to issue bills of credit on the faith of the nation. 

It is true that the acts of Congress for the most 
part were in the form of recommendations, yet they 
had all the authority of laws. 

This government by the Continental Congress has 
been called the Eevolutionary government, in distinc- 
tion from, the government of the Confederation. Till 
the articles of confederation were adopted, the Con- 
tinental Congress exercised the powers of a national 
government. 



CHAPTEE VI. 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



Our revolutionary fathers intended to form 
a government for the United States, as soon as they 
had declared them to be independent of Great Britain. 
On the 11th day of June, 1776, the day on which the 
committee for preparing the Declaration of Independ- 
ence was appointed, Congress appointed a committee 
to prepare and digest a form of Confederation to be 
entered into by the coloaies about to become inde- 
pendent States. This committee consisted of one 
member from each colony. 

In about a month, the committee reported a draft 
which was debated for several days, and on the 20th 
of August, Congress, in committee of the whole, re- 
ported a new draft, which was ordered to be printed 
for the use of the members. When the articles of 
Confederation were agreed upon in Congress, a cir- 
cular was addressed to the legislatures of the sev- 
eral States, requesting them to authorize their dele- 



44 THE SCIENCE OF goverkme:n^t. 

gates in Congress to subscribe to the Articles of 
Confederation in behalf of the States. The Articles 
were not to be binding till they were ratified by all 
the States. This ratification did not take place till 
March, 1781, nearly five years after the Declaration 
of Independence. 

The articles were called " Articles of Gonfedera- 
Hon and perpetual union between the States." It 
was not designed to form a national government, but 
a league of friendship. The second article declares, 
'^ Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and inde- 
pendence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right 
which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated 
to the United States in Congress assembled " ; and the 
third article, ''The said States hereby severally enter 
into a firm league of friendship with each other, for 
their common defence, the security of their liberties 
and their mutual and general welfare." 

Thus it appears that the Confederation was de- 
signed to be merely a league between the States, and 
not a national government. 

Provision was made for a Congress as follows : 

** For the more convenient management of the gen- 
eral interests of the United States, delegates shall be 
annually appointed in such manner as the legislature 
of each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on the 
first Monday in November in every year, with a 
power reserved to each State to recall its delegates, 



THE SCIEIfCE OF GOVERJJ-MENT. 45 

or any of them, at any time within the year, and to 
send others in their stead for the remainder of the 
year. 

'^ ^0 State shall be represented in Congress by less 
than two, nor by more than seven members, and no 
person shall be capable of being a delegate for more 
than three years in any term of six years ; nor shall 
any person, being a delegate, be capable of holding 
any office under the United States, for which he, or 
another for his benefit, receives any salary, fees, or 
emoluments of any kind. 

^^Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a 
meeting of the States, and while they act as members 
of the committee of the States. 

*'In determining questions in the United States in 
Congress assembled, each State shall have one vote." 

It will be observed that the Congress of the Con- 
federation, like the Eevolutionary Congress, consisted 
of only one House ; that the members were chosen by 
the legislatures of the States ; that they were chosen 
for a year, but might be recalled at any time if the 
legislature saw fit to do so ; that the salaries of the 
members were paid by the States appointing them, 
and that the method of voting was by States — each 
State having one vote. A majority of the delegates 
from a State determined the vote of that State. If 
they were evenly divided on a question, the vote of 
the State was lost. 



46^ THE SCIEIN'CE OF GOVERNMENT. 

The States were upon a footing of perfect equality. 
Delaware had in Congress as much power as Penn- 
sylvania or Virginia. 

The following were the principal powers possessed 
dy Congress : ^' The United States in Congress assem- 
bled shall have the sole and exclusive right and power 
of determining on peace or war, except in the cases 
mentioned in the sixth article ; of sending and receiv- 
ing ambassadors ; entering into treaties and alliances, 
provided that no treaty of commerce shall be made, 
whereby the legislative power of the respective States 
shall be restrained from imposing such imposts and 
duties on foreigners as their own people are subjected 
to, or from prohibiting the exportation or importation 
of any species of goods or commodities whatever ; of 
establishing rules for deciding, in all cases, what cap- 
tures on land or water shall be legal, and in what 
manner prizes taken by land or naval forces, in the 
service of the United States, shall be divided ar ap- 
propriated ; of granting letters of marque and reprisal 
in times of peace ; appointing courts for the trial of 
piracies and felonies committed on the high seas ; 
and establishing courts for receiving and determining 
finally appeals in all cases of capture, provided that 
no member of Congress shall be appointed a judge of 
any of the said courts. 

"The. United States in Congress assembled shall 
also have the sole and exclusive right and power of 



THE SCIENCE OE GOTERXilEXT. 47 

regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by their 
own authority, or by that of the respective States ; 
fixing the standard of weights and measures through- 
out the United States ; regulating the trade and man- 
aging all affairs with the Indians, not members of any 
of the States, provided that the legislative right of 
any Stat^ within its own limits be not infringed or 
violated ; establishing and regulating post-ofSces from 
one State to another throughout all the United States, 
and exacting such postage on the papers passing 
through the same as may be sufficient to defray the ex- 
penses of said office ; appointing all the officers of the 
land forces in the service of the United States, except- 
ing regimental officers ; appointing all the officers of 
the naval forces and commissioning all officers what- 
ever in the service of the United States; making rules 
for the government and regulation of the land and 
naval forces, and directing their operations ; to ap- 
point one of their number to preside, provided that no 
person be allowed to serve in the office of President 
more than one year in any term of three years ; to as- 
certain the sums of money to be raised for the service 
of the United States, and to appropriate and apply the 
same for defraying the public expenses ; to borrow 
money or emit bills of credit of the United States, 
transmitting every half year to the respective States 
an account of the sums of money so borrowed or 
emitted ; to build and equip a navy ; to agree upon 



48 THE SCIEI^CE OF GOVERNMENT. 

the number of the land forces, and to make requisitions 
from each State for its quota in proportion to the 
number of white inhabitants in such State, which 
requisition shall be binding." 

It thus appears that though the Confederation was 
designed to be a league, a number of powers appropri- 
ate to a general government were conferred upon 
Congress. But these grants of power were fettered 
by a condition which rendered the most important of 
them practically useless. None of those important 
powers could be exercised without the consent of nine 
States, as appears from the following : 

^^The United States in Congress assembled shall 
never engage in a war ; nor grant letters of marque 
and reprisals in time of peace; nor enter into any 
treaty or alliances ; nor coin money, nor regulate the 
value thereof ; nor ascertain the sums and expenses 
necessary for the defence and welfare of the United 
States or any of them ; nor emit bills ; nor borrow 
money on the credit of the United States ; nor appro- 
priate money ; nor agree upon the number of vessels 
to be built or purchased, or the number of land or sea 
forces to be raised ; nor appoint a commander-in-chief 
of the army or navy ; unless nine States assent to the 
same." 

Measures of the utmost importance often failed in 
Congress in consequence of this provision requiring 
the assent of nine States, instead of a majority. 



THE SCIEIfCE OF GOVERN'MENT. 49 

Congress was also to decide on appeal all disputes 
arising between the States, and to appoint a committee 
to act during the recess of Congress. The debts con- 
tracted by the Reyolutionary Congress were declared 
to be good against the Confederation, and the public 
faith was solemnly pledged for their payment. No 
alterations could be made in the Articles of Confedera- 
tion unless agreed to in Congress, and afterward 
confirmed by the legislature of every State. 

Such prohibitions were laid on the States as it was 
thought would prevent them from interfering with the 
exercise of the powers conferred upon Congress. 

The Articles of Confederation made no pro- 
vision for a judiciary. Congress could establish courts 
for determining the lawfulness of capture at sea, but 
it had no power to erect civil tribunals. The only 
courts in existence under the Confederation were State 
courts. 

The Confederation had great defects, which 
soon appeared in its practical operation. Congress had 
no power to execute its laws — no exercise of authority. 
Whether their measures were carried into execution, 
or not, depended upon the legislatures of the States. 
Washington wrote : '^The Confederation seems to me 
to be little more than a shadow without the substance ; 
and Congress a nugatory body, their ordinances being 
little attended to." 

Congress had no power to lay taxes and collect 



50 THE scie:n'ce of government. 

revenue. They could apportion the sums needed 
among the States, but if any State did not see fit to 
furnish its portion, there was no help for it. There 
are on record many instances of neglect ; Congress 
was often without funds to carry on the war and meet 
the public engagements. 

Congress had no power to regulate commerce, for- 
eign or domestic. Each State had power to regulate 
commerce within its own limits. In consequence, 
there were no uniform regulations. Our foreign com- 
merce was subject to such regulations as foreign na- 
tions chose to make, since Congress had no power to 
make, in case of injury, retaliatory regulations. The 
result was the ruin of our navigation, and great injury 
to all the interests connected with it. 

There were not wanting statesmen who saw at the 
outset the defects of the Confederation, and labored to 
correct them, but State jealousies prevented the grant- 
ing to Congress of the powers necessary to an eJBficient 
government. 

After the close of the war, the stimulus of danger 
being removed from the States, the defects of the Con- 
federation were more fully developed. The treaties 
entered into by Congress were disregarded by some 
of the States ; the sums required to be paid into the 
treasury were not paid. The entire prostration of 
public credit, the dissensions among the States, and 
the utter neglect with which the resolves of Congress 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERI^MEXT. 51 

were treated, threatened the most alarming conse- 
quences. The time seemed rapidly approaching when, 
to use the language of Washington, it would be a sub- 
ject of " regret that so much blood and treasure have 
been lavished for no purpose, that so many sufferings 
have been encountered without compensation, and 
that so many sacrifices have been made in vain." 



CHAPTER VII. 

FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

IisT view of tJie defects of the Confederation, the 
necessity of a stronger government was apparent to 
most of the leading statesmen of the day. Quite a 
number were active and earnest in preparing the pub- 
lic mind for a change, but the two most prominent 
were James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. 

Madison was the first to make a public movement 
in the right direction. In the spring of 1784 he be- 
came a candidate for a seat in the Legislature of Vir- 
ginia, that if elected, he might influence that body to 
take some measures toward giving the country a gov- 
ernment that would secure the freedom which had 
been so dearly purchased. He was elected, but found 
it difficult to make the desired impression. He found 
the majority exceedingly averse to any measures hav- 
ing a tendency to transfer power from the State to the 
United States. 

He finally, after about two years' labor, succeeded 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERKMEN-T. 53 

in causing the legislature to pass the following resolu- 
tion : 

'^ Resolved, That Messrs. Eandolph, Madison, Jones, 
Tucker, and Lewis, be appointed Commissioners, who, 
or any of whom, shall meet such Commissioners as 
may be appointed by other States in the Union, to 
take into consideration the trade of the United States, 
to consider how far a uniform system in their commer- 
cial regulations may be necessary to their common 
interests and permanent harmony, and to report to the 
several States such an act relatiye to this great object 
as when unanimously ratified by them, will enable the 
United States effectually to provide for the same." 

By the articles of confederation Congress could not 
impose a tariff for rerenue or for the protection of 
domestic industry. The evils resulting from this lack 
of power had been so numerous and palpable, that 
Madison succeeded in securing the votes of a majority 
of his fellow legislators to the resolution above given. 
Had he proposed to them the formation of a new gov- 
ernment, the plan of which was already clearly defined 
in his own mind, the proposition would doubtless have 
been voted down by an overwhelming majority. He 
knew the men with whom he was dealing, and pro- 
ceeded with the caution of wisdom. 

Eandolph, Tucker, and Madison attended the con- 
vention which met at Annapolis in September, 1786. 
Very little interest in the movement was felt by th^ 



54 THE SCIEKCE OF GOVERKMEJSTT. 

people. Only five States were represented in the con- 
vention; viz., New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, and Virginia. 

Connecticut, Maryland, South Carolina, and Geor- 
gia did not appoint delegates. New Hampshire, Mas- 
sachusetts, Ehode Island, and North Carolina ap- 
pointed delegates, but they failed to attend the con- 
vention. 

The friends of the Union as it ought to be, were 
everywhere active in urging the necessity of a re- 
form. They seldom, if ever, advocated anything more 
than such an amendment of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion as would enable Congress to conduct national 
affairs in an efficient manner. Their arguments, 
assisted by the logic of events, began to have a percep- 
tible influence on the public mind. During the inter- 
val between the appointment of delegates to the con- 
vention and the time of its meeting, there was an 
evident advance of public opinion in the desired direc- 
tion. In consequence of this, the convention, under 
the lead of Madison and Hamilton, declined to enter 
upon the limited task assigned it, and recommended 
to Congress to call a convention with powers ade- 
quate to the occasion. The report containing this rec- 
ommendation was drawn up by Alexander Hamilton. 
It proposed the appointment by the States, of com- 
missioners to meet in Philadelphia, *' to take into 
consideration the state of the United States, to devise 



THE SCIEIfCE OF GOVERiq^MEKT. 55 

such further provisions as shall appear to them neces- 
sary to render the Constitution of the Federal Grov- 
ernment adequate to the exigencies of the Union, and 
to report such an act for that purpose to the United 
States, in Congress assembled, as when agreed to 
by them and afterwards confirmed by the legisla- 
tures of every State, shall effectually provide for the 
same." 

This recommendation was first acted upon by the 
legislature of Virginia, by whom it received an unan- 
imous approval, ^ew York was the next State that 
moved in the matter. The legislature instructed its 
delegation in Congress to move a resolution recom- 
mending to the States the appointment of delegates 
to meet in convention for the purpose of proposing 
amendments to the Articles of Confederation. 

On the 29th of February, 1787, a resolution was 
moved and carried in Congi-ess, recommending a con- 
vention to meet in Philadelphia in May ensuing. Del- 
egates were in due time appointed by all the States 
except Rhode Island. 

The 14th of May was the day appointed for the 
opening of the convention. As only a small number 
of the delegates had arrived on that day, the conven- 
tion did not open till the 25th of May. There were 
then present twenty-nine delegates from nine States. 
Other delegates soon came in till the whole number 
was fifty-five. This assembly is known in history 



56 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERKMEI^T. 

as the Federal Convention — the convention which 
framed the Federal Constitution. It embodied as 
large an amount of patriotism, talent, and vrisdom as 
was ever assembled in this or in any other land. There 
were "Washington, and Hamilton, and Madison, and 
Franklin, and King, and Sherman, and Ellsworth, and 
Pinckney, and Livingston, and Robert Morris, and 
Gouverneur Morris, and Dickinson, and Wilson, and 
many others scarcely less distinguished for talent and 
public services. If these men fail in their solemn 
efforts, what can be expected from human wisdom ? 

Mr. Madison, who was not absent a single day 
from the debates of the convention, says of its mem- 
bers : "I feel it my duty to express my profound and 
solemn conviction, derived from my intimate opportu- 
nity for observing and appreciating the views of the 
convention, collectively and individually, that there 
never was an assembly of men charged with a great 
and arduous trust, who were more pure in their mo- 
tives, or more exclusively and anxiously devoted to 
the object committed to them, than were the members 
of the Federal Convention of 1787 to the object of 
devising and proposing a constitutional system which 
should best supply the defects of that which it was to 
replace, and best secure the permanent liberty and 
happiness of their country." 

Robert Morris, in behalf of the delegation from 
Pennsylvania, nominated Washington as the presiding 



THE SCIE2?"CE OF GOYER^s'MEis'T. 57 

officer of the convention. Franklin would have made 
the nomination, but was prevented by ill health from 
being present. Franklin was the only man in the 
convention besides Washington, who could be sup- 
posed to have any claims to the chair. Washington 
was unanimously chosen. 

The convention adopted as one of its rules, "That 
nothing spoken in the house be printed or otherwise 
published or communicated without leave." Thus 
the proceedings of the convention were secret. Mr. 
Madison perceiving the interest which posterity would 
take in said proceedings, made a daily record of the 
same. This record was carefully preserved, and, after 
his death, published by order of Congress. We have 
thus a tolerably full report of the daily progress of 
the convention in forming the Constitution of the 
United States. 

Mr. Eandolph, of Virginia, opened the main busi- 
ness of the convention by a speech, in which he set 
forth the defects of the Confederation, and then of- 
fered fifteen resolutions which were designed to fur- 
nish materials for the action of the convention. These 
resolutions embodied the outlines of a plan of govern- 
ment of which we find notices in the previous corre- 
spondence of Madison with Washington, Jefferson, 
Eandolph, and others. It is fair,. therefore, to infer 
that the plan of government presented by Eandolph in 
his fifteen resolutions originated with Madison. 
3* 



5S THE SCIEKCE OF GOVEEKMEKT. 

The following is a brief outline of the plan : It 
proposed a National Governm-ent with a division of 
powers into the legislative, judicial, and executive de- 
partments. It will be remembered that the Articles of 
Confederation made no provision for judicial and ex- 
ecutive departments. 

It proposed that the national legislature should 
consist of two branches, the members of the first 
branch to be elected by the people of the several 
States — the members of the second branch to be 
elected by the first branch out of a proper number 
nominated by the State legislatures. 

It proposed that the national legislature have 
power to legislate on all matters of national interest, 
and in all cases in which the States were incompetent 
to legislate, and that the national legislature have a 
negative on all State laws contravening the articles 
of union, and that the right of suffrage in the national 
legislature be proportioned to the quota of contribu- 
tion to national expenses, or to the number of free 
inhabitants. This would have deprived the small 
States of their equality with the large States, and 
would have given no place to slave representation. 
From the outset, Madison designed to form a free 
constitution. 

It proposed that there should be a national ju- 
diciary, to consist of one or more supreme tribunals 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERN^MENT. 69 

and inferior ones, and tliat the national executive be 
chosen by the national legislature. 

It proposed that provision be made for the admis- 
sion of new States to the Union, and that a republican 
form of government be guaranteed to each State, and 
that the legislative, judicial, and executive powers of 
the several States be bound by oath to support the 
Articles of Union. 

All the above features are, wifch some modifications, 
contained in the constitution. There was one which 
was not adopted. It proposed that there should be a 
council to decide on the constitutionality of laws — 
that the national executive, with a convenient number 
of the national judiciary, shou.ld compose a council of 
revision to examine every act of the national legisla- 
ture before it should go into operation, and every act 
of a State legislature before the veto on it should be 
final. The power of deciding the constitutionality of 
laws is by the constitution conferred on the Supreme 
Court. 

Such was the plan of government presented to the 
convention by the resolutions offered by Mr. Randolph. 
They were referred to the Committee of the Whole on 
the state of the Union. Mr. Charles Pinckney, of 
South Carolina, then presented a plan of government 
possessing supreme legislative, executive, and judicial 
powers. This was also referred to the Committee of 
the Whole. 



60 THE SCIENCE OF GOVEBlSrMEI^rT. 

The resolutions of Mr. Randolph were debated 
from day to day in the Committee of the Whole, till 
the 13th of June — nearly three weeks — ^when the com- 
mittee reported to the convention nineteen resolutions, 
founded upon those proposed by Mr. Randolph. Of 
these nineteen resolutions, the first that was passed 
was the following : '^ Resolved , That a national gov- 
ernment ought to be established, with a supreme legis- 
lative, executive, and judiciary." 

When the convention assembled, a large majority 
of its members supposed that the only work before 
them was that of amending the Articles of Confedera- 
tion : but the discussions that took place soon con- 
vinced a majority that a change of system was neces- 
sary, and hence they voted, not that the Articles of 
Confederation ought to be amended, but that a na- 
tional government ought to be formed. From that 
time forward they addressed themselves to that work. 
Madison, Hamilton, and other prime movers in call- 
ing the convention, had from the first the formation 
of such a government in view. 

These nineteen resolutions, which received the 
votes of the majority of the convention in the Com- 
mittee of the Whole, embraced the outlines of the fol- 
lowing plan of government: viz., a national legisla- 
ture to consist of two branches, the first branch or 
lower house to be elected by the people for three 
years ; the second or upper house to be elected by the 



THE SCIEKCE OF GOVERIS^MENT. 61 

State legislatures for seven years ; the legislature to 
have powers superior to those of the confederation ; 
the suffrage in the legislature to be according to the 
number of free persons and three-fifths of other per- 
sons ; the national executive to be chosen for seven 
years, and to be ineligible for a second term, with 
power similar to those now possessed by the President 
of the United States ; a national judiciary, with suita- 
ble powers ; the whole plan to be submitted to assem- 
blies chosen for the express purpose of ratifying or 
rejecting it. 

Some progress had thus been made, not in amend- 
ing the Articles of Confederation, not in forming a 
league between the States, but in forming a govern- 
ment for the United States, This progress was made 
not without great difficulty. There were some influ- 
ential men in the convention who clung to the old 
Confederation, and were unwilling that any consider- 
able increase of power should be given to the govern- 
ment of the Union. The small States were unwilling 
to surrender the equality of suffrage which they en- 
joyed under the Confederation. But by patient and 
able discussion, forbearance, and concession, progress 
was made. Resolutions were offered, debated, post- 
poned, called up again, passed, reconsidered, amended, 
and again perhaps postponed, and others proposed in 
their place, till at length the majority agreed upon the 
nineteen resolutions. This was on the 13th of June. 



62 THE SCIEKOE OF GOVERKMEKT. 

On the 15th of June, Mr. Patterson, of New Jersey, 
laid before the convention a plan which he and some 
others wished to have substituted for the one embodied 
in the nineteen resolutions. His plan proposed that 
the Articles of Confederation be revised, that the 
powers of Congress be enlarged in respect to the 
revenue and the regulation of commerce, that Congress 
appoint an executive with power to execute the 
Federal Acts, that a Federal Judiciary be established, 
and that the Acts of Congress in accordance with the 
Articles of Confederation and treaties made and rati- 
fied under the authority of the same, be the supreme 
law of the land. 

The resolutions of Mr. Patterson were referred to 
the Committee of the Whole, to which committee the 
nineteen resolutions were again referred. 

The two plans were now fairly before the conven- 
tion. It was admitted that the one aimed at perpet- 
uating a league between the States ; that the other 
aimed at forming a national government acting upon 
individuals. '' The true question," said Mr. Ean- 
dolph, '*is whether we shall adhere to the Federal 
plan, or introduce the national plan. A national gov- 
ernment alone properly constituted will answer our 
purpose." 

The debate on these two sets of resolutions con- 
tinued for four days, when the committee reported the 
nineteen resolutions without alteration. The conven- 



THE SCIEXCE OE GOTERXMEXT. 63 

tion voted by States, each State having one vote. 
The votes on this occasion were as follows : For the 
national plan, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsyl- 
vania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 
Georgia — seven States. 

For the league plan, New York, New Jersey, and 
Delaware — three States. The vote of Maryland was 
divided. 

Messrs. Yates and Lansing, delegates with Hamil- 
ton from New York, cast the vote of that State in 
opposition to the well known views of their colleague. 

It was during this debate that Hamilton for the 
first time addressed the convention, and gave the 
outline of a plan of government which he would like 
to see adopted. ^'He did not mean," he said, "to 
offer the paper he had sketched as a proposition. It 
was meant only to give a more correct view of his 
ideas, and to suggest the amendments he should prob- 
ably propose to the plan of Mr. Eandolph, in the 
proper stages of its future discussion." The following 
is a very condensed view of his plan : 

The supreme legislative power to be vested 
in an assemblv and senate : the members of the assem- 
bly to be chosen by the people for three years; the mem- 
bers of the senate to be chosen by electors chosen by 
the people ; senators to serve during good behavior. 

The supreme executive authority to be 
vested in a governor, to serve during good behav- 



64 THE SCIEKCE OF GOVERNMEiq'T. 

ior ; his election to be made by electors chosen 
by the people. The governor to have an unqual- 
ified veto on all the acts of the legislature, to have 
the sole appointment of the heads of departments, and 
to have the nomination of all other ofiicers subject to 
the advice and consent of the Senate. 

The Senate to have the sole power of declaring 
war, and of advising and approving treaties. 

A national judiciary to be instituted, the 
judges to hold office during good behavior. 

The governors of each State to be appointed 
by the General Government, and to have a negative on 
all the acts of the State legislatures. 

All the laws of the States contrary to the Constitu- 
tion and laws of the United States to be null and 
void. 

The convention had now, after much discussion 
and with great difficulty, decided on forming a consti- 
tution for a National Government. Much as they had 
done, they had only made a beginning. To agree upon 
the details of the general plan was found to be diffi- 
cult — well-nigh impossible. 

In view of these difficulties, Franklin proposed 
that prayer should be resorted to, and prefaced his 
proposal with the following remarks : 

" In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, 
when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer 
in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers 



THE SCIE2TCE OF G0VEE:N^MENT. 65 

sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. 
All of us who were engaged in the struggle, must 
have observed frequent instances of a superintending 
Providence in our favor. To that kind Providence we 
owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on 
the means of establishing our future national felicity, 
and have we now forgotten that powerful friend ? Or 
do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance ? 
I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the 
more convincing proofs I see of this truth. That G-od 
GOVEENS j:^ the affaies of MEi^. And if a sparrow 
cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it 
probable that an empire can rise without His aid ? 
We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that 
except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain 
that build it. I firmly believe this, and I firmly believe 
that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in 
this political building no better than the builders of 
Babel. We shall be divided by our little partial, 
local interests, our projects will be confounded, and 
we ourselves shall become a reproach and by-word 
down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind 
may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair 
of establishing governments by human wisdom, and 
leave it to chance, war and conquest. I therefore beg 
leave to move, that henceforth prayers, imploring the 
assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our delibera- 
tions, be held in this assembly every morning before 



QQ THE SCIEITCE OF G0VER2S"MEKT. 

we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy 
of this city be requested to officiate in that service." 

Washington said, in a letter to a friend, "I almost 
despair of seeing a favorable issue to the proceedings 
of the convention, and I do therefore regret that I have 
had any agency in the business." This was written 
by one who, during the long, dark hours of the Eevo- 
lution, never despaired of the republic. The danger 
of failure in constructing our government must have 
been very great. 

By the wise and conciliatory course pursued by the 
leaders of the convention, it was kept together, and 
the debates continued till the twenty-third of July, 
when the majority had come to an agreement as to the 
leading provisions of the Constitution in process of 
formation. Mr. Gerry, of Massachusetts, then moved 
"that the proceedings of the convention for establish- 
ing a national government (excepting that part re- 
lating to the executive) be referred to a committee to 
prepare and report a constitution conformable there- 
to." Messrs. Eutledge, Gorham, Eandolph, Ells- 
worth, and Wilson were appointed on this committee 
of detail. 

Three days afterwards, the proceedings of the con- 
vention respecting the executive were referred to the 
same committee. The convention then adjourned till 
the sixth of August, that the committee might have 
time to prepare and report a constitution. 



THE SCIENCE OP GOYER]!s'ME]S"T. 67 

On the sixth of August the committee of detail re- 
ported a constitution of twenty-three articles. These 
articles embodied the substance of the resolutions 
which had been adopted by the convention. This re- 
port was on the seventh referred to the Committee of 
the Whole. It was then debated article by article 
about four weeks. During these debates many amend- 
ments and modifications were made. 

On the eighth of September, a committee was ap- 
pointed to revise the style and arrange the articles 
which had been agreed upon. This work of revision 
and arrangement was mainly performed by G-ouverneur 
Morris. On the twelfth of September, the committee 
reported the constitution as revised and arranged, 
together with the draft of a letter to Congress. 

The Constitution was still before the convention, 
and the debates continued till the seA^enteenth of Sep- 
tember, when the last amendment was made at the 
suggestion of Washington. The Constitution, as re- 
ported, declared that " the number of representatives 
shall not exceed one for every forty thousand. This 
had occasioned great discussion. On Mr. Gorham's 
moving to strike out forty and insert thirty thousand, 
Washington remarked : "That although his situation 
had hitherto restrained him from offering his senti- 
ments on questions depending in the house, and, it 
might be thought, ought now to impose silence upon 
him, yet he could not forbear expressing his wish that 



68 THE SCIEKCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

the alteration proposed might take place. It was 
much to be desired that the objections to the plan 
recommended might be made as few as possible. The 
smallness of the proportion of representatives had 
been considered by many members of the conyention 
as an insufficient security for the rights and interest of 
the people. He acknowledged that it had always ap- 
peared to himself among the exceptionable parts of 
the plan, and late as was the pi'esent moment for ad- 
mitting amendments, he thought this of so much con- 
sequence that it would give him great satisfaction to 
see it adopted." The amendment was agreed to unani- 
mously. The above were the only remarks made by 
Washington in the convention. 

On the 17th of September, the Constitution, as 
finally amended, was signed by all the members of 
the convention except Messrs. Eandolph and Mason, 
of Virginia, and Mr. Gerry, of Massachusetts. Proba- 
bly there was not a single member who was fully satis- 
fied with it, yet, with the above-named exceptions, they 
gave it their signatures and support, believing it to be 
the best that could be obtained. 

Previous to signing it, Dr. Franklin remarked : '* I 
confess there are several parts of the Constitution 
which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure 
that I never shall approve them; for having lived long, 
I have often been obliged by better information or by 
fuller consideration, to change opinions even on im- 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERl^'MENT, 69 

portant subjects." "I doiibk whether any other con- 
vention we can obtain may be able to make a better 
constitution. For when you assemble a number of 
men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you 
inevitably assemble with those men all their preju- 
dices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local 
interests and selfish views. From such an assembly 
can a perfect production be expected ? It therefore 
astonishes me to find this system approaching so near 
to perfection as it does. I consent to the constitution 
because I expect no better, and because 1 am not sure 
it is not the best," 

Hamilton remarked : '^ No man's ideas are more 
remote from the plan than my own are known to 
be ; but is it possible to deliberate between anarchy 
and convulsion on one side, and the chance of good to 
be expected from the plan on the other ? " His con- 
cluding remark was, " It is the best the present situa- 
tion and circumstances of the country will permit." 



CHAPTER YIII. 

ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

Whei^ the Constitutmi was completed and signed 
by the members of the convention, it was laid before 
Congress — the Congress of the Confederation. Con- 
gress referred it to the legislatures of the several 
States, who called conventions chosen by the people 
to adopt or reject it. 

When the Constitution was published and spread 
before the people, it met with vigorous opposition from 
mistaken patriots and selfish politicians. Among the 
former were such men as Patrick Henry, of Virginia, 
and Samuel Adams, of Massachusetts — men whose 
honesty and love of country were beyond the shadow 
of a doubt. They knew that men who possessed 
power were liable to abuse it — that history was filled 
with examples of the abuse of power. Hence they 
were unwilhng to trust the General Government with 
the powers conferred upon it by the Constitution. 
They thought the only safeguards of liberty lay in 



THE SCIE'N'CE OE GOVERlTMEIfT. 71 

each State retaining nearly all the powers which prop- 
erly belong to an independent nation. This could not 
be, if the Constitution and laws of the United States 
were to be "the supreme law of the land." 

They saw in the President of the United States a 
disguised king ; and this would probably have j)re- 
vented the adoption of the Constitution, had it not 
been regarded as certain that Washington would be 
the first President. All honest men felt that power 
in his hands would be safe. Probably the character 
of Washington had more to do with the adoption of 
the Constitution, than the arguments that were urged 
in favor of its provisions. 

The ablest men of the country employed their pens 
in explaining and defending the Constitution. Fore- 
most among these were James Madison, Alexander 
Hamilton, and John Jay. The articles published by 
them in the public papers under the title of the " Fed- 
eralist," constitute a most interesting and able coni= 
mentary on the Constitution. AVe have in it the inter- 
pretation of the Constitution by its framers, who were 
fully competent to tell us what they meant to do. 

The people of the United States were divided into 
two parties; viz., those who favored and those who 
opposed the adoption of the Constitution. The former 
were called Federalists, and the latter Anti-Federal- 
ists. 

The conventions called by the State legislatures to 



72 THE SCIEI^CE OF GOVERI^'MENT. 

consider the Constitution, met at different times in 
different States. The convention of Delaware adopted 
the Constitution Dec. '7, 1787 ; Pennsylvania adopted 
it Dec. 12, 1787 ; New Jersey, Dec. 18, 1787; Georgia, 
Jan. 2, 1788 ; Connecticut, Jan. 9, 1788 ; Massachu- 
setts, Feb. 6, 1788 ; Maryland, April 28, 1788 ; South 
Carolina, May 23, 1788; New Hampshire, June 21, 
1788 ; Virginia, July 26, 1788 ; New York, July 26, 
1788. 

Delaware, New Jersey, and G-eorgia adopted the 
Constitution unanimously ; Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
and South Carolina by large majorities ; Massachu- 
setts, New York, and Virginia by small majorities. 

In the Pennsylvania convention, the task of ex- 
plaining and defending the Constitution devolved 
upon Mr. Wilson, a prominent member of the Federal 
Convention. Washington said that he was " as 
honest, candid, and able a member as the conven- 
tion contained." 

Wilson was requested by the Pennsylvania con- 
vention to explain the meaning of the different parts 
of the constitution. He was thus led to take a view 
of its leading provisions, and the reasons in support 
of them. His speeches constitute one of the best com- 
mentaries on the Constitution that have appeared. His 
acquaintance with the science of government was 
quite equal to that of Hamilton. After the adoption 
of the Constitution, Washington appointed him one 



THE SCIENCE OF GOYEEN"MEKT. 73 

of the Judges of tlie Supreme Court of the United 
States. 

The fate of the Constitution in Massachu- 
setts was for a long time considered doubtful by its 
friends. The people of that State were accustomed to 
annual elections, and the frequent return of power into 
their own hands. They were afraid that the power 
giyen by the Constitution to the General G-oyernment 
would prove destructive to their liberties. 

The convention contained three hundred and fifty- 
five members ; among them were a score or more 
ministers of the gospel. Nearly all of these came to 
the convention opposed to the Constitution. Having 
listened to the discussions that took place, they with 
but one or two exceptions voted in favor of it. 

The celebrated John Hancock was chosen president 
of the convention. It was voted that the convention 
open daily with prayer, and that they consider each 
article of the Constitution in order, and that each 
member have an opportunity of expressing his views 
on each part before the vote to adopt or reject should 
be taken. This course of proceeding saved the Con- 
stitution. In course of the free and full discussion it 
allowed, the opinions of many who came into the 
convention strongly opposed to the Constitution, were 
changed. The arguments and appeals of such men 
as Fisher Ames, Eufus King, Dana, Parsons, and 
others, had weight with the members, and when the 



74 THE SCIEIirCE OF GOYERKMEKT. 

vote was taken, the Constitution was ratified by a 
majority of nineteen. 

The bearing of those who were outvoted is worthy 
of notice. Some who had made strenuous opposition 
throughout all the sessions of the convention, arose 
when the vote for adoption was declared, and said that 
they would now give to the Constitution their hearty 
support. Eor example, one said : ^'1 have been opposed 
to the adoption of the Constitution, yet as a majority 
has seen fit to adopt it, I shall use my utmost endeav- 
ors to induce my constituents to live in peace under 
it, and cheerfully submit to it." 

The Virginia convention met on the second 
day of June, 1788. The ablest men of Virginia were 
members of it — Madison, Marshall, Henry, Pendleton, 
Wythe, Randolph, Mason, Monroe, and others. 

Henry took strong ground in opposition to the 
Constitution, and was supported by Mason, James 
Monroe, and many others.- Madison, Marshall, Ran- 
dolph, Pendleton, Nicholas, and others defended the 
Constitution, and urged its adoption. It was adopted 
by a small majority. Henry, like a true patriot as 
he was, became one of its warmest friends and sup- 
porters. 

The New York convention assembled at 
Poughkeepsie, June 17, 1788. George Clinton, who 
was an opponent of the Constitution, was chosen presi- 
dent. The convention was opened every morning with 



THE SCIE]SrCE OF GOVERIS-MEI^T. 75 

prayer. The supporters and opponents of the Consti- 
tution were very nearly equal. 

The leading advocates for adoption were Chancel- 
lor Livingston, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. 
The vote to adopt was carried by a majority of four. 

The convention of North Carolina rejected 
the Constitution. Ehode Island refused to call a con- 
vention to consider the question. 

In several of the conventions, it was proposed to 
ratify the Constitution, on condition that certain speci- 
fied amendments were made. Madison was consulted, 
and gave it as his opinion that the ratification could 
not be conditional. The ratification was finally in all 
the States unconditional, and the desired amendments 
were strongly recommended. The most important of 
these desired amendments were recommended by two- 
thirds of the first Congress under the Constitution, and 
having been ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths 
of the States, became a part of the Constitution. 

The Constitution declared, that when nine 
States had adopted it, it should be binding on those 
States. "When the ratifications of nine States had been 
received by Congress, they were referred to a committee 
to examine them, and to report an act putting the 
Constitution into operation. This was on the 2d of 
July, 1788. 

On the 14th of July such an act was reported, but 
it was not adopted till the 13th of September. Elec- 



76 THE SCIEiq-CE OF GOVERN^MEHT. 

tions for oflBcers of the new goyernment were directed 
to be held in January, 1789, and the first Wednesday 
in March was designated as the time for commencing 
operations under the Constitution. 

Washington was unanimously elected Pres- 
ident, and John Adams Vice-President. Elections for 
members of the House of Eepresentatives were held by 
the people, and for the Senate by the legislatures of the 
States. Congress was to meet, and the new govern- 
ment to be inaugurated in the city of New York. 

The time appointed was the first Wednesday in 
March; but a quorum of both houses of Congress did 
not assemble till some time in May, when Washington 
w^as sworn into ofifice, and the new system introduced. 
The new government was not fully organized till 
autumn. The heads of departments could not be ap- 
pointed till Congress had passed laws establishing those 
departments. When this had been done, Thomas Jef- 
ferson was appointed Secretary of State, Alexander 
Hamilton Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Knox 
Secretary of War, and Edmund Randolph Attorney- 
General. These gentlemen constituted Washington's 
cabinet. Thus the government was fully organized, 
and its beneficial influence was immediately seen in 
the rapidly increasing prosperity of the nation. 

In November, 1789, North Carolina, by a conven- 
tion called for that purpose, ratified the Constitution. 
In May, 1790, Rhode Island ratified it. All the origi- 
nal States were then united under the Constitution- 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE NATURE OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

The preamble of the constitution reads thus : 
" We the people of the United States, in order to 
form a more perfect unio7i, establish justice, insure do- 
mestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, 
promote the general ivelfare, and secure the ilessings 
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain 

and establish this Constitution for the United States 
of America.^^ 

This preamble sets forth the object and nature of 
the Constitution. Two widely different views have 
been entertained. The one regards the Constitution 
as forming a national government for the people of 
the United States ; the other regards it as a compact 
or league between sovereign States. The first view is 
the one entertained by the framers of the Constitution, 
and by the great majority of the people of the United 
States. The second was advocated by John C. Cal- 
houn, and was held by a large portion of the people 



78 THE SCIEITOE OF GOVERKMEI^^T. 

of the Southern States, when the late rebellion took 
place. 

Those who regard the Constitution as a league or 
compact between sovereign States, hold that if one of 
the parties to the compact fails to observe its provis- 
ions, the other parties are released from all further 
obligation. According to this view, if any State 
thinks one of the laws passed by Congress to be un- 
constitutional, it has a right to declare that law null 
and void within the limits of the State. If any State 
thinks the Constitution has been violated, it may se- 
cede from the Union, and become, if it chooses, an 
independent nation. South Carolina attempted to 
practice nullification in 1832, and nearly all the South- 
ern States attempted to secede in 1860. 

The Constitution is not a league or compact 
between sovereign States. It is an instrument adopted 
by the people of the United States, for the purpose 
of creating a government acting for many purposes 
directly on the people of the United States. It pro- 
vides that the government thus created shall be su?- 
perior in authority to all the State governments. It 
declares that the Constitution and laws of the United 
States "shall be the supreme law of the land, any 
thing in the constitution and laws of any State to the 
contrary notwithstanding." 

The people of the United States made the 
government, and they alone can change or unmake 



THE SCIENCE OF GOYEEIfMEXT. 79 

it, and in so doing, tliey must go according to tlie direc- 
tions of the Constitution. Of course no State can 
nullify a law of Congress, and no State can secede. !N"o 
State or individual can decide whether a law is consti- 
tutional or not. The Constitution refers the decision 
of such questions to the supreme court, and the decis- 
ion is final. 

That this is the true view of the Constitution and 
government appears from the following reasons : 

The Articles of Confederation were confess- 
edly a league, and they failed to meet the wants of the 
country. Hence a convention was called to amend 
them. The members of the convention came together 
for the pui*pose of amending the league, but they were 
soon convinced that something more was necessary ; 
hence the first resolution passed by them was, ^'Re- 
solved, That a national government ought to be formed, 
consisting of a supreme legislative, executive, and 
judiciary." 

After the passage of this resolution, an effort was 
made to return to the league plan. ^Ir. Patterson, as 
we have seen, introduced certain resolutions having 
for their object the perpetuation of the league. It 
was distinctly understood that the two plans were be- 
fore the house. ' ' The true question is," said Mr. 
Eandolph, " whether we shall adhere to the Federal 
plan, or introduce a national plan." 

Seven States voted to ^^ introduce a national plan," 



80 ^N THE SCIEKCE OF GOYERKMEl^T. 

and only three against it. From that time onward 
the efforts of the convention were directed to the 
formation of a national government. 

" If any historical fact in the world be plain and 
undeniable/' says Daniel Webster, "it is that the 
convention deliberated on the expediency of contin- 
uing the Confederation with some amendments, and 
rejected that scheme, and adopted the plan of a 
national government with a legislature, executive, 
and judiciary of its own. They were asked to pre- 
serve the league ; they rejected the proposition. They 
were asked to continue the existing compact between 
the States ; they rejected it. They rejected compact, 
league, and confederation, and set themselves about 
framing the Constitution of a national government, 
and they accomplished what they undertook." 

When the Constitution was published, one objec- 
tion which was strongly urged against it was, that the 
members of the Federal Convention had transcended 
their powers. They were chosen, it was said, to amend 
the league of the States, and they had formed a na- 
tional government. The advocates of the Constitution 
did not deny the fact thus stated. They did not claim 
that the Constitution was a league of States. They 
admitted that it framed a national government, and 
contended that such a government was necessary to 
the prosperity of the country. 

In the Virginia convention, Patrick Henry ex- 



THE SCIEITCE OF GOVERITMENT. 81 

pressly objected to the language of the preamble, ^' We 
the people of the United States." " Have they said, 
' We the States ' ? Have they made a proposal of a 
compact between States ? If they had, this would be 
a confederation ; it is otherwise most clearly a consol- 
idated government. The question turns, sir, on that 
poor little thing — the expression, ' We, the people,' 
instead of * the States of ximerica.' " * 

The act of adoption by the convention speaks of 
the powers granted under the Constitution as '^ being 
derived from the people of the United States." 

In the Pennsylvania convention, Mr. Wilson 
said : " This is not a government founded upon compact. 
It is founded upon the power of the people." Again : 
" This system is not a compact or a contract. The 
system tells you what it is ; it is an ordinance and 
establishment of the people." 

In the Connecticut convention, Mr. Johnson, 
who had been a member of the Federal Convention, 
after speaking of the difficulty of legislating for States 
in their political capacity, said: "They have, there- 
fore, gone entirely upon new ground. They have 
formed one new nation out of individual States." 

The preamble itself is very explicit and clear. 
There is no possibility of mistaking its meaning. It 
says nothing about the formation of a compact by 
sovereign States. It says nothing whatever about the 

* Elliot's Debates, iii. 73. 
4* 



82 THE SCIEKOE OF GOVERI^MEKT. 

States acting as States. It declares, " We, the people 
of the United States, do ordain and establish this Con- 
stitution for the United States of America." 

Nothing is found in any part of the Constitution 
making mention of a league or compact between the 
States. In a league or compact the parties are named, 
and the mutual stipulations recorded. There is no 
trace of any thing of this kind in the Constitution. 
In no place are the States mentioned as contracting 
parties. The people speak throughout the document. 
They do not enter into stipulations with a party. 
They speak with the voice of authority. They declare 
what powers the government shall exercise, and what 
powers it shall not exercise. 

The second section of the sixth article of the Con- 
stitution declares : " This Constitutio7i, and the laws 
of the United States which shall le made in pursuance 
thereof, and all treaties made or which shall he made, 
under the authority of the United States, shall te the 
supreme laio of the land ; and the judges in every 
State shall he hound therehy, any thing in the consti- 
tution or laws of any State to the contrary notwith- 
standing." 

No terms could be more explicit than these. If 
they do not forbid a State to nullify a law of Congress, 
or to throw off the authority of the Constitution, then 
language cannot be so framed as to forbid these acts. 

The Constitution appoints an arbiter to de- 



THE SCIE:N"CE of GOVERi?-ME:ffT. 83^ 

cide all questions in relation to the violation of the 
Constitution. It declares that " the judicial power 
shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising 
under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, 
and treaties made or which shall be made under their 
authority." Every question, therefore, with respect 
to the violation of the Constitution, that can be made 
the subject of judicial proceedings, that can constitute 
a case, is to be decided by the Supreme Court, and 
that decision is final. This completes the supremacy 
of the Constitution. Suppose a State passes a law 
conflicting with the Constitution of the United States : 
a suit is brought under that law, and its constitution- 
ality is argued before the Supreme Court. The Court 
declares the law unconstitutional, and hence, null and 
void : no regard is thenceforth paid to it. 

An early decision of the Supreme Court 
declares, " The Constitution of the United States was 
ordained and established, not by the States in their 
sovereigTi capacity, but emphatically, as the preamble 
of the Constitution declares, by *the people of the 
United States.'" 

The several States cannot with propriety be spoken 
of as sovereign States. Sovereign power is supreme 
power — power that has no other power over it. A 
sovereign State is one that possesses sovereign power. 
Now, no one of the United States possesses sovereign 
power. There is a power, that of the Constitution, 



84 THE SCIEN^CE OF GOVERIi^MEiq^T. 

higher than the power of any State. This is plain 
from the declaration, "This Constitution shall be the 
supreme law of the land, and the judges in every State 
shall be bound thereby, any thing in the constitution 
or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding." 
Thus the power of every State is limited ; limited 
power is not sovereign power. 



CHAPTER X. 

CONGRESS — HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

Art. 1. Section I. '^ All Legislative poiuers 
herein granted shall le vested in a Congress of the 
United States, which shall co7isist of a Senate and 
House of Representatives.^^ 

The first resolution adopted by the Federal 
Convention, as we have seen, contemplated the 
formation of a goveniment with Legislative, Judicial, 
and Executive departments. In carrying out that reso- 
lution, it was intended to keep these departments dis- 
tinct and independent. The experience of the past 
has shown that when these departments are distinct, 
that is, when one class of men make the laws, and 
another class interpret them, and a third execute them, 
justice is much more likely to be done than when the 
legislative, judicial, and executive powers are possessed 
by the same person or persons. This division of power 
is wanting in an absolute monarchy. Hence there 
can be no 'security against injustice under such a 
government. 



86 THE SCIEl^^CE OF GOVERNMENT. 

In an absolute monarchy, all power of every 
kind is in the hands of the monarch. He may appoint 
men to make laws, but if the laws do not please him, 
he can unmake them. He may appoint judges to in- 
terpret the laws, but their interpretations and decis- 
ions must be according to his will. If they are not, 
the judges will be removed, and others appointed in 
their places. He may appoint men to execute the laws, 
but they must consult his pleasure, or lose their places, 
if not their heads. Under a despot the three depart- 
ments may exist in form, but not in reality. 

It is not possible to make the three departments 
perfectly independent of one another; but they can be 
made distinct, and so far independent, that there shall 
be reasonable security that one department shall not 
invade the rights or unduly influence the action of the 
other. The framers of the Constitution aimed at 
doing this, and succeeded in a good degree. If they 
have in any degree come short, it is in making the 
judicial dependent for its organization on the legisla- 
tive department. 

The legislative power is vested in Congress, 
which consists of two separate houses. The Congress 
of the Confederation consisted of one house. 

An act must receive the assent of a majority of 
both houses before it can be presented to the President 
for his signature. 

Reason and experience unite in showing that such a 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVEENMEKT. 



87 



course is more likely to secure wise legislation, than 
the Testing of the legislative power in a single house. 
Public bodies, as well as individuals, are liable to 
excitement and passion. A measure may receive a 
majority of votes in a legislative body, and yet be an 
unwise and unjust measure. If it became a law as 
soon as it passed a single house, there would be no 
remedy but in repeal, and that would not take place 
speedily, if at all. But let such a measure, if it pass 
one house, be sent to another entirely distinct from 
the one that passed it. It will be coolly examined, 
and probably rejected. If a bill passes one house 
without due examination, it will be more carefully 
examined in the other. Thus the great advantage of 
having two houses in the legislature is, that each is a 
check on the other in preventing hasty, unwise, and 

unjust legislation. 

Bribery and corruption are rendered more diffi- 
cult when there are twobodies to corrupt instead of one. 

The advantages of two houses will be greater 
according as they are differently constituted. If the 
members of one house are drawn from a different class 
of citizens, and have different responsibilities thrown 
upon them, and hold their seats for a different period, 
the check of one upon the other will be the greater. 

The parliament of Great Britain, in which 
the legislative power of the realm is vested, consists of 
the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The 



88 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERI^MEI^T. 

members of the House of Commons are chosen by the 
people for seven years ; the members of the House of 
Lords belong to the hereditary peerage. The oldest 
son of a peer takes his seat in the House of Lords on 
the death of his father. 

Art. 1, § 2. " The House of Representatives shall 
he composed of metnbers chosen every second year hy 
the people of the several States, and the electors in 
each State shall have the qualifications requisite for 
electors of the most nume7'0us branch of the State 
legislature. " 

The term of service for a representative is two 
years. Some of the framers of the Constitution wished 
to have the representatives elected annually, and 
others for a longer period than two years. Two years 
were finally fixed upon as a medium. 

If the term of service were only one year, the 
legislator would scarcely become familiar with his du- 
ties before his term would expire. If different persons 
were elected every year, as might be the case, the 
house would be constantly changing its character, and 
the effect might be, continual changes in legislation. 
The house would not possess the experience in legisla- 
tion which is desirable. 

On the other hand, if the term of service were five 
or seven years, the representatives would feel less 
responsible to their constituents, and would be more 
likely to abuse the power possessed by them. Dis- 



THE SCIEis^CE OF GOYERKMEiq^T. 89 

honest and intriguing men would have a better oppor- 
tunity to influence the course of legislation. 

When the Constitution was formed, universal suf- 
frage did not generally prevail. In most of the States 
there was a property qualification for voting. This 
differed in different States. In some States, a small 
amount of property entitled a man to vote for some of 
the lower offices, and a larger amount for the higher. 
It was necessary to define the qualifications for an 
elector of representatives, and the most convenient 
way seemed to be to adopt the qualifications required 
in each State to vote for the most numerous, by which 
is meant the lower, branch of the State legislature. 

The members of the English House of Commons 
are chosen for seven years, but they rarely serve out the 
time for which they are chosen. The king can dis- 
solve the house whenever he pleases, and order a new 
election. Whenever there is a majority in the house 
against the administration, or against the ministers, as 
it is termed, either the ministers resign and new min- 
isters are appointed by the king, or the House of Com- 
mons is dissolved and a new one elected. 

Art. 1, § 2, 2. " No j^erson shall le a representa- 
tive who shall not have attained to the age of twenty - 
five years, and heen seven years a citizen of the United 
States, and who shall not, when elected, 'be an inhab- 
itant of that State in ivhich he shall he chosen." 

It was thought that requiring the representative 



90 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERIifMEKT. 

to be at least twenty-five years old, would be some- 
thing of a guaranty for the possession of knowledge 
and soundness of judgment. Age does not necessarily 
give wisdom, but age is a necessary condition of ex- 
perience. 

A man may be elected a member of the House of 
Commons at the age of twenty-one. 

The representative must be a citizen of the 
United States, either by birth or naturalization. No 
country permits aliens to take part in the affairs of 
government, and few permit naturalized citizens. 

The representative must be an inliabitant of 
the State for which he is chosen, in order that he may 
be acquainted with the wants and interests of his con- 
stituents. The States are by law divided into congres- 
sional districts, and the usage is to have the represent- 
ative of a district an inhabitant of that district. The 
Constitution does not require this. It simply requires 
that the representative be an inhabitant of the State. 
A resident in Buffalo might constitutionally represent 
a constituency in New York city. 

If it were customary sometimes to go out of the 
district for a representative, a greater number of able 
men might be elected representatives. As the usage 
now is, if there lived in a congressional district a dozen 
men, each one of them the peer of Henry Clay or 
William L. Marcy, only one of them could be in Con- 
gress at the same time, though it might be very desir- 



THE SCIENCE OF GOYERKMEiq^T. 91 

able that tlie country should have their services as 
legislators. 

A member of the House of Commons may be 
chosen for any place from any part of G-reat Britain. 
A resident of Edinburgh may be chosen for Cambridge. 
This custom brings many more able men into the 
House than would otherwise be there. 

It will be observed that no property qualification 
is requisite in order to be a representative in Congress. 
In order that a man may be a member of the House 
of Commons, he must possess a certain amount of 
property. If a poor man happens to be elected, his 
wealthy friends place the requisite amount of property 
in his hands, that he may take his seat. In nearly 
every constitutional government except that of the 
United States, the legislators are required to be prop- 
erty holders. It is thought that those who possess 
property will feel a deeper interest in regard to the 
security of property and the administration of justice 
than those who have no property. It was a maxim 
of John Jay, " Those who own the country ought to 
govern it." 

Art. 1, § 2, 3. '^ Representatives and direct taxes 
shall he ap)portioned among the several States, which 
may he included within this Unions according to their 
respective numhers, which shall he determined by add- 
ing to the whole number of free persons^ including those 
hound to service for a term of years, and excluding 



92 THE SCIEi^CE OF GOVERKMEIsTT. 

Indians not taxed, tliree-fifllis of all other persons. TJie 
actual enumeration shall he made ivithin three years 
after the first meeting of the Congress of the United 
States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, 
in such manner as they shall hy law direct. The num- 
ber of representatives sliall not exceed one for every 
thirty thousand, hut each State shall have at least one 
representative. And until such enumeration shall he 
made, the State of New Hampshire shall he entitled 
to choose three; Massachusetts, eight; Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations, one; Connecticut, five ; 
New YorJc, six; Neiv Jersey, four ; Pennsylvania, 
eight ; Delaware, one ; Maryland, six ; Virginia, ten ; 
North Carolina, five ; South Carolina, five; and Geor- 
gia, three.^^ 

Under the Confederation each State had one 
vote. One of the great difficulties in forming the Con- 
stitution, was the unwillingness of the small States to 
relinquish their equality in representation in the legis- 
lature. 

Another difficulty arose from slavery. The North- 
em States insisted that the representation should be 
apportioned according to the number of the free pop- 
ulation. The slave States insisted that the slaves 
should be counted in the enumeration. A compromise 
was at length made, by which three-fifths of the slaves 
were counted. This gave the slave States a greater 
number of representatives in proportion to the free 



THE SCIElfCE OF GOVEEKMEIfT. 93 

white population than the free States. When the 
rebellion took place, the slave States had more repre- 
sentatives in Congress than they would have been 
entitled to on the basis of a free population. 

It was thought that some offset to this advantage 
would accrue to the North, from the provision which 
requires all direct taxes to be apportioned in the same 
manner as the representatives. But that provision 
has been, for the most part, inoperative. Very few 
direct taxes were laid previous to the civil war. The 
national revenue was raised by indirect taxation. 

This provision of the Constitution respecting the 
apportionment of Eepresentatives, has been changed by 
the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution. In 
section second of that amendment, it is declared, that 
the '' Reiiresentatives shall be apportioned among the 
several States according to their resjiective nmnbers, 
counting the whole number of persons m each State, 
excluding Indians not taxed.^^ 

A strict compliance with the provision of the Con- 
stitution, which requires that representatives shall be 
divided among the States according to their respective 
numbers, is impossible. Suppose the population is 
thirty millions, and an attempt is made to apportion 
the representation according to the numbers in each 
State ; suppose it be determined to assign a represent- 
ative to every fifty thousand. The population of 
each State must then be divided by fifty thousand. 



94 THE SCIE]S"CE OF GOYEEIfMEKT. 

In all cases it is probable that a fraction would remain, 
and that fraction would be without a representative. 
This is the course that is adopted, and it comes as near 
the constitutional rule as is practicable. The Consti- 
tution provides that no State have more than one repre- 
sentative for every thirty thousand. It does not say 
it shall have one for every thirty thousand. As the 
population of the United States has increased, the 
ratio of representation has been from time to time 
enlarged by Congress. This was necessary to prevent 
the house from becoming unwieldy. 

Art. 1, § 2, 4. ^' When vacancies happen in the 
representation from any State, the executive author- 
ity thereof shall is-sue tvrits of election to fill such va- 
cancies.^^ 

The Executive of a State will feel an interest 
in having the State fully represented in Congress. 
Hence the power to issue writs of election will be 
promptly exercised. 

Art. 1, § 2, 5. " The House of Representatives 
shall choose their Speaker and other officers, and shall 
have the sole poiuer of unpeachment" 

The power to choose its Speaker and other 
officers is necessary to the independence of the house. 
The Speaker of the House of Commons is chosen by 
the house, but must be approved by the king. There 
is no provision corresponding to this in regard to the 
Speaker of the House of Kepresentatives. 



THE SCIENCE OF GOYERXMEXT. 95 

Impeachment, '^ in a judicial sense, is a written, 
formal accnsation of a person, as being guilty of some 
public offence or misdemeanor." In the English gov- 
ernment, the power of impeachment is vested in the 
House of Commons. 



CHAPTER XI. 



THE SENATE. 



Art. 1, § 3, 1. '' The Senate of the United States 
shall be composed of two senators from each State, 
chosen hy the legislature thereof for six years ; and each 
senator shall have one vote." 

The members of the convention were nearly unani- 
mous in placing the legislative power in two houses. 
They were equally well agreed that the two houses 
should be differently constituted. Some thought the 
senators should be chosen directly by the people of the 
States, some thought that they should be chosen by the 
House of Representatives, and others that they should 
be chosen by the legislatures of the States. This last 
opinion prevailed. 

It was thought that the choice would be more se- 
lect, if made by a legislative body, than if made by 
the people. As the Senate has some very important 
duties to perform, besides that of uniting with the 
House in making laws, it was designed to adopt such 



THE SCIEiq'CE OF GOVERXMEXT. Ot 

a mode of election as would secure for senators the 
ablest men in the land. 

In forming the House of Representatives, we have 
seen that the small States yielded the equality they 
had hitherto enjoyed ; in the Senate they were per- 
mitted to retain that equality. Each State, without 
regard to extent of territory or population, is entitled 
to two senators. 

The Senate was designed to be a smaller body 
than the House of Eepresentatives. Some duties are 
assigned it which could not well be performed by a 
large body. If only one senator had been assigned 
to each State, the State might often be without a voice 
in the Senate. Giving two senators to each State 
guards against this evil, and still does not render the 
Senate too numerous. 

The term of service is six years. The senators 
unite with the President in the management of the 
foreign relations of the country. Their duties require 
an amount of experience greater than is required by 
the representatives, who are clothed simply with legis- 
lative powers. The Senate share with the Presi- 
dent the treaty-making power, and advise and consent 
to his appointments to office. It is reasonable, there- 
fore, that the term of office should be longer than that 
of the representatives. 

The time finally fixed upon was the result of 
compromise between those who would have made the 

5 



98 THE SCIENCE OF GOYERIs'MENT. 

term longer, and those who would have made it 
shorter. 

Art. 1, § 3, 2. "Immediately after they shall he 
assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall 
he divided as equally as may he into three classes. 
The seats of the senators of the first class shall he va- 
cated at the expiration of the second year ; of the sec- 
ond class at the expiration of the fourth year ; and 
of the third class ai the expiration of the sixth year, 
so that one-third may he chosen every second year; 
and if vacancies happen hy resignation or otherwise, 
during the recess of the legislature of any State, the 
executive thereof may mahe temporary appointments, 
until the next meeting of the legislature, ivhich shall 
then fill such vacancies. " 

The object of this provision was to satisfy those 
who feared that the senators wonld acquire an undue 
amount of power in consequence of the tenure of oflBce 
for six years. This provision, while it now secures to 
each senator six years of service, renders the whole 
body less permanent, and, it was thought, less likely 
to accumulate power. 

Art. 1, § 3, 3. " No person shall he a senator who 
shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and 
ieen nine years a citizen of the United States, and who 
shall not when elected, he an inhahitant of that State 
for which he shall he chosen.''^ 

It was thought that the grave duties devolving 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMEI^T. 99 

Upon the senator required an experience of life and a 
maturity of judgment not usually found in those who 
are less than thirty years of age. 

As the Senate, together with the President, has 
control of our foreign relations, and as foreign-born 
citizens are eligible to a seat in the Senate, it was 
deemed wise to require such a period of citizenship as 
would be likely to result in a strong affection for the 
adopted country. 

Art. 1, § 3, 4. " TJie Vice-President of the 
United States shall te President of the Seriate, 'but shall 
have no vote unless they he equally divided." 

If the Senate were to choose their Speaker from 
their own number, the State from which he was chosen 
would have more than its due share of power, for the 
presiding officer can, to a considerable extent, influence 
the course of legislation. On the other hand, it would 
in part depriye the State of one of her senators. 

The provision that renders the Vice-President the 
presiding officer of the Senate, is a wise one. Giving 
him a vote in case the Senate is divided equally, is 
also wise ; since the Senate must, when all the mem- 
■ bers are present, consist of an even number, and hence 
a tie can easily happen. This provision of the Consti- 
tution preserves the equality of the States in the 
Senate. 

Art. 1. § 3, 5. " The Senate shall choose their 
other officers, and also a President pro-tempore in the 



100 THE SCIEN-CE OF GOYERKMEITT* 

absence of the Vice-President, or tvhen he shall exercise 
the office of President of the United States." 

It is customary for the Vice-President to retire a 
few days before the close of each session, that the 
Senate may elect a president pro-te7npore. Then if, 
during the recess, the Vice-President is called to act 
as President of the United States, the Senate will have 
a presiding officer, and be ready to proceed to business 
at the opening of the next session. Experience has 
shown the wisdom of this custom. 

The House of Lords is composed of the peers of 
England, sixteen representative peers of Scotland, and 
twenty-eight representative peers of Ireland, and the 
archbishops and bishops of the Church of England. 
The peers consist of the nobility of England. The 
different orders of nobility are ; dukes, marquises> 
earls, viscounts, and barons. The bishops are not 
hereditary peers ; they have seats in the House of 
Lords only by virtue of their ecclesiastical offices. 

The king can add to the number of the House of 
Lords whenever he pleases, by creating peers, that is, 
making commoners peers. The dignity he thus be- 
stows he has no power to take away. ' 

If the king wishes a measure to pass the House of 
Lords, and there is a majority against it, he can change 
that majority into a minority, by creating a sufficient 
number of new peers. In 1832 it was proposed to 
create a sufficient number of peers to carry the Eeform 



THE SCIEIfCE OF GOVEKI^MENT. 101 

Bill. When the peers saw that such a creation would 
take place, they yielded and passed the bill, rather 
than have an accession to their ranks from the plebeian 
orders. 

The lord high chancellor is the presiding offi- 
cer of the House of Lords. He is a cabinet officer, and 
holds office during the continuance of the administra- 
tion of which he is a member. He is said to occupy 
the wool-sack. The richly wrought cushion on which 
he is seated when presiding over the House is filled 
with wool, a symbolical allusion to the manufacturing 
interests of the kingdom. The chancellor is always a 
peer of the realm, and, as such, a member of the House. 

Art. 1, § 3, 6. '' The Senate shall have the sole 
power to try all impeachments. When sitting for tJiat 
purpose, they shall he on oath or affirmation. When 
the President of the United States is tried, the chief 
justice shall preside, and 7io person shall le convicted 
without the concurrence of two-thirds of the memlers 
present." 

By this provision of the Constitution, the Senate is 
clothed with judicial power for a certain purpose. An 
impeachment, as has been stated, is a written accusa- 
tion against persons in office, for the purpose of bring- 
ing them to trial for misconduct. By the Constitution, 
the House of Representatives must bring the accusa- 
tion, that is, present articles of impeachment, and the 
Senate must try the case and give judgment. 



103 THE SClEIfCE OF GOVERIS'MEiq^T. 

If a public officer, say a judge of the Supreme 
Court, is guilty or is supposed to be guilty of bribery, 
a motion is made in tbe House of Eepresentatives to 
impeach him. Witnesses are called, and if the house 
think there is ground to authorize a trial, they prepare 
and send to the Senate articles of impeachment. The 
Senate, while trying the judge thus impeached, sit as 
a court of justice, and take a solemn oath to try the 
case faithfully, and a vote of two-thirds is necessary to 
conviction. 

If the President of the United States is impeached, 
and found guilty and removed from office, the Vice- 
President succeeds to his place. The Vice-President 
should, therefore, not take part in the trial. The chief 
justice, as the highest judicial officer of the country, is 
the proper person to preside on so important an occa- 
sion, especially as he can have no personal interest in 
the issue of the trial. 

As the offences for which men are commonly im- 
peached are official misdemeanors, the Senate can, with 
greater propriety, try the offender than a court of jus- 
tice. The courts of justice are accustomed to examine 
and decide questions of law. 

If 2b judge of the Supreme Court were impeached, it 
would not be desirable that he should be tried by his 
associates in office. 

The provisions of the Constitution relative to im- 
peachment, are borrowed from the English Constitu- 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVEEIfMEKT. 103 

tion. By the English Constitution, the power of im- 
peachment is vested in the House of Commons, and 
that of trying the impeached, in the House of Lords. 
In the House of Lords conviction or acquittal is by a 
mere majority. 

Art. 1, § 3, 7. ^'Judgment in cases of impeach- 
ment shall not extend further than to removal from 
office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office 
of honxir, trust, or profit under the United States ; hict 
the party convicted shall, nevertheless, he liable and suh- 
ject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, 
according to law^ 

The Constitution thus provides that no person 
can be put to death except by indictment, trial, and 
judgment according to law. In prohibiting a legislative 
body from inflicting the penalty of death, our fathers 
were in advance of the legislation of the world. The 
House of Lords, in addition to removal and disqualifi- 
cation, may inflict banishment, forfeiture of goods, im- 
prisonment, and death. This provision of the Constitu- 
tion prevents unprincipled partisans from destroying 
those who may be opposed to them, and who stand in 
the way of their wicked schemes. History shows that 
men have often been the victims of party hate. 

A person impeached and condemned for a 
crime punishable by law, can also be indicted, tried by 
a court of justice, and punished. Suppose the Presi- 
dent of the United States should be guilty of murder. 



104 THE SCIENCE OF G0VEEKME2S^T. 

He would doubtless be impeached and removed from 
ofl&ee. The Senate could not condemn him to death 
as a murderer. But he could be indicted for murder 
by a grand jury, and tried, and if found guilty of mur- 
der, executed. 

Art. 1, § 4, 1. " The times, places, and manner 
of holding elections for senators and representatives, 
shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature 
thereof : but Congress may at any time, by law, mahe 
or alter such regulations, except as to the places of 
choosing senators.^' 

The propriety of this provision rests upon "this 
plain proposition, that every government ought to 
contain in itself the means of its own preservation." 
If a State executive and legislature should become dis- 
loyal, and neglect to make provision for the election 
of representatives to Congress, Congress has power to 
make the necessary regulations. The exception with 
respect " to the place of choosing senators " was added, 
because it was not thought becoming in Congress 
to prescribe the place where the legislature should 
meet. 

Art. 1, § 4, 2. ** The Congress shall assemble at 
least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on 
the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law 
appoint a different day.^^ 

The disuse of Parliaments for many years under the 
Stuarts, and the tyranny consequent thereon, caused 



THE SCIEi^CE OF GOVER]^fMEiq-T. 105 

the English people to insist on annual Parliaments. 
The Colonial Legislatures were accustomed to meet 
annually, and the provision requiring Congress to 
meet annually was adopted as a matter of course. It 
furnishes a check to executive and other official cor- 
ruption, and prevents the country from suffering from 
the lack of legislation relative to events which may 
have taken place during the recess of Congress. 

. Art. 1, § 5, 1. ^' Each house shall he the judge of 
the elections, retur^is, and qualifications of its own 
memiers, and a majority of each shall constitute a 
quorum to do business ; hut a smaller numher may 
adjourn from day to day, and may he authorized to 
compel the attendance of ahse^it memhers in such 
manner, and under such penalties, as each house may 
provide.^' 

This is necessary to the independence of each 
house. If some other department of government had 
the power of determining who are entitled to seats, 
the character of the house might depend upon that 
department. Suppose that department to be strongly 
partisan. Partisan claimants only would be admitted 
to seats. 

^ A similar provision exists in the English Parlia- 
ment, and has been adopted by all constitutional gov- 
ernments. 

If less than a majority could enact laws, and wield 
the power of the house, a small number of intriguing 
5* 



106 THE SCIEKOE OF GOVEBKMENT. 

men miglit, on some occasions, wield the power of the 
house. A comparatively small portion of the House 
of Commons may constitute a quorum. 

In times of high political excitement, a majority 
might absent themselves in order to arrest the pro- 
gress of legislation. To guard against this possible 
evil, a minority are empowered to compel the attend- 
ance of absent members. 

Art. 1, § 5, 2. " Each house may determine the 
rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disor- 
derly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, 
expel a mem,ler" 

In order that a legislative body may be independ- 
ent, it must determine the rales of its proceedings. 
The rules which govern the proceedings of legislative 
and deliberative bodies, constitute what is termed 
Parliamentary Law. An acquaintance with parlia- 
mentary law is important to all legislators, and to all 
who take part in the proceedings of deliberative 
bodies of any kind. The parliamentary usages of Eng- 
land and America have done much to promote wise 
legislation. For example : one of these usages is, 
that no bill shall be passed without being read before 
the house three times, and that the three readings 
shall not all take place on 'the same day. This has a 
tendency to prevent hasty legislation. 

To guard against the possibility of injustice, no 
member can be expelled unless two-thirds of all the 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERifMEiJ^T. 107 

members vote for the expulsion. If a mere majority 
could expel, men obnoxious to the majority would 
not, in times of high political excitement, be secure in 
their seats. A similar power exists in the House of 
Commons. 

Art. 1, § 5, 3. " Each house shall heep a journal 
of its 'proceedings, and from time to tims, publish the 
same, excepting such parts as may, in their judgment, 
require secrecy j and the yeas and nays of the mem- 
bers of either house, on any question, shall, at the de- 
sire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the 
journal," 

The propriety of making the proceedings public is 
apparent. The people have a right to know what their 
agents are doing. A few acts may require temporary 
secrecy, and for this provision is made. 

It is desirable that constituents should know how 
their representatives vote. Some men will vote for a 
bad measure, if their votes can pass unobserved. The 
fact that the yeas and nays may be caUed for and re- 
corded and published, acts as a restraint upon such 
men. The provision is therefore an important one, 
though it is liable to abuse. A factious minority de- 
sirous of hindering the course of legislation may make 
frivolous motions, and demand the yeas and nays upon 
them, and thus consume the time of the house. 

The sessions of both Houses of pongress are usu- 
ally open to spectators. When the Senate is in ex- 



108 THE SCIEKOE OF GOVER]N"ME]!^rT. 

ecutive session, that is, when it meets to confirm or 
reject the nominations of the President, it sits with 
closed doors. 

To obtain admission to either house of Parlia- 
ment, an order from a member of the house is neces- 
sary. A portion of the gallery of the hall in which 
the House of Commons meet, is partitioned off from 
the rest, and its seats are cushioned. This is called the 
Speaker's gallery. To this, distinguished visitor s are 
admitted. When a vote is taken in the House of 
Commons, all spectators are required to withdraw. 
This usage has not been copied by the House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

Art. 1, § 5, 4. " Neither Jiouse, during the ses- 
sion of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, 
adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other 
place than that in which the two houses shall he 
^sitting." 

Art. 1, § 6, 1. " The senators and representatives 
shall receive a compensation for their services, to he 
ascertained hy law, and paid out of the treasury of 
the United States. They shall, in all cases, except 
.treason, felony, and hreach of the peace, he privileged 
from arrest during their attendance at the session of 
their respective houses, and ingoing to and in return- 
ing from the same j and for any speech or dehate in 
either house, they shull not he questioned, in any 
other place " 



THE SCIEi^CE OF GOVEK^S'MEin'. 109 

Under the Confederation, we have seen, the dele- 
gates were to be paid by the States sending them. 
As payment was not always prompt, attendance was 
not always regular. j 

If compensation were left to the State legislatures,! 
the national government would become dependent 
upon the State governments. If members were not 
paid, men of limited means could not serve as legislators. 

The members of the British Parliament do not re- 
ceive any compensation. This has not kept men of 
limited means out of Parliament, but it has rendered 
them dependent upon their wealthy friends. It is de- 
sirable that the legislator should in every sense be 
independent. 

Freedom from arrest during the session, and 
while going and returning, is necessary to prevent 
constituents from losing the services of their represent- 
ative. It is called a privilege of a member, but it is 
really a provision of justice for the constituent. 

If the representative or senator be guilty of cer- 
tain high crimes, he may be arrested. The commis- 
sion of such crimes would prove his unfitness to act as 
a legislator. 

Freedom of speech is essential to the independ- 
ence of the legislator. If he could be called to account 
for any thing said in the house, by a power from with- 
out, freedom of debate would be at an end,. and legis- 
lation a farce. 



110 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERiq^MEKT. 

This feature of the Constitution was borrowed 
from the English Constitution. In England, if a man 
publishes his speech after delivering it in Parliament, 
and it contains defamatory or libellous matter, he is 
liable to prosecution. There has been no judicial set- 
tlement of this question in the United States. It is 
contended by some that the freedom guaranteed by the 
Constitution extends to the publication as well as the 
utterance of one's speech. 

Art. 1, § 6, 2. "iVb senator or representative 
shall, during the time for which he was elected, he ap- 
pointed to any civil office under the authority of the 
United States, which shall have been created, or the 
emoluments whereof shall have ieen increased during 
such time ; and no person holding any office under the 
United States, shall be a member of either house during 
Ms continuance in office." 

An influential member might cause a lucrative of- 
fice to be created, and then receive it at the hands of 
the executive, in return for political party services. 
The Constitution aims to prohibit all such corruption. 
It would make the legislator as disinterested as pos- 
sible. 

In prohibiting all persons holding office under the 
United States from being members of either house, 
the Constitution differs from that of England. The 
English Constitution permits the members of the cab- 
inet and officers of the crown to hold seats in the 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. Ill 

House of Commons. If a member be appointed fco 
office, he thereby vacates his seat, but he may be im- 
mediately reelected and take his seat. There is an 
advantage attending this arrangement. The leaders 
of the administration, the heads of departments, can, 
as members of the house, bring forward and advo- 
cate their plans. They are always on hand to give 
information or answer objections. 

Art. 1, § 7, 1. '^ All Mils for raising revenue 
shall originate in the House of Representatives, hut the 
Senate may oppose or concur with amendments, as 
on other hills" 

This provision is borrowed from the House of 
Commons. Whatever reasons may exist for it there, 
they do not exist in the United States. As the Senate 
has the power of amending what are termed " money 
bills," it might just as well have the power of origi- 
nating them. 

The English Constitution requires that all 
money bills originate in the House of Commons, and 
the House of Lords must pass or reject them without 
alteration. This gives the democratic portion of the 
government well-nigh supreme power, if they choose 
to exercise it. The House of Commons may attach 
to a money bill a rider requiring concessions very dis- 
tasteful, it may be, to the aristocracy. The Lords can 
make no alteration in the bill. They must pass it 
with its obnoxious provision, or reject it. To reject it 



112 THE SCIEi^CE OF GOVERi^MENT. 

may be to deprive the government of funds, to stop 
the payment of pensions, and throw things into con- 
fusion. If the Commons will it, they can compel the 
Lords to pass any measure they may choose to pro- 
pose. Eeverence for the aristocracy seems to keep 
them from exercising their power. 

Art. 1, § 7, 2. ^' Every till which shall have 
passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, 
shall, hefore it lecomes a law, he presented to the Presi- 
dent of the United States ; if he approve, he shall sign 
it, hut if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to 
that house in which it shall have originated, who shall 
C7iter the objections at large on their journal, and pro- 
ceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, 
two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the Mil, 
it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the 
other house, by which it shall liJcewise be reconsid- 
ered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it 
shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes 
X)f both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, 
and the names of the persons voting for and against 
the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house 
respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the 
President within ten days [Sundays excepted) after 
it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be 
a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the 
Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in 
.which -Case it shall not be a law." - - 



THE SCIE:NrCE OF GOVEEifMENT. 113 

A qualified negatiye on the acts of Congi-ess is 
thonglit to be needed, to prevent the legislative from 
encroaching on the executive department. It is an 
additional check upon the legislative bodies, and may 
prevent hasty and unconstitutional legislation. 

The King of England has an absolute negative on 
the acts of Parliament, but there has not been an 
example of its exercise for nearly two centuries. 

It was not expected that the veto potver would he 
often used by the President. It was designed to meet 
emergencies. Washington used it but once, and then 
on constitutional grounds. This veto plainly pre- 
vented a violation of the Constitution. 

In defence of this provision of the Constitution, it 
may be said, that any measure so important that the 
country would suffer great inconvenience if it were 
not passed, cannot be prevented by the President's 
veto. It will secure the votes of two-thirds of both 
houses, and thus become a law. 

It cannot be denied, that, when parties in Congress 
are not far from equal, the President can, in conse- 
quence of possessing the veto power, exercise an undue 
control over the course of legislation. 

Art. 1, § 7, 3. ^' Every orders resolution, or vote, 
to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of 
Representatives may he necessary (except on a ques- 
tion of adjournment) shall he presented to the Presi- 
dent of the United States ; and hefore the same shall 



114 THE SCIE2!fCE OF GOVERi^^MEKT. 

take effect, shall le approved ly Mm, or, leing dis- 
approved hy him, shall le repassed iy two-thirds of 
the Senate and House of Representatives, according to 
the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a 
UIV 

If an order or resolution might take effect without 
the signature of the President, a bill or matter of great 
importance might, under the name of a resolution, 
become a law without the President's assent. 



CHAPTER XII. 



POWERS OP CONGRESS. 



Art. 1, § 8, 1. ^' The Congress shall have power to 
lay and collect taxes, duties, iinposts, and excises, to 
'pay thedelts, and provide for the common defence 
and general loelfare of the United States ; but all 
duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform through- 
out the United States." 

The former of the two first clauses sustains to the 
latter the relation of means to end. Congress shall 
have power to lay taxes in order to pay the debts and 
promote the general welfare. If this is not the true iu- 
terpretation, then the power of Congress is unlimited. 
They can do every thing that they think tends to 
provide for the common defence and the general wel- 
fare. Now, it is well known that it was designed to 
form a government of limited powers, and to state 
the limitations is one of the objects of the Constitu- 
tion. 

This part of the Constitution gives Co-ngvess potver 



116 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERIirMElifT. 

to raise taxes for certain specific purposes. Congress 
therefore has no power to lay taxes for any other pur- 
poses. If Congress should pass a law imposing a tax 
of a million dollars to aid the liberal cause in Italy, 
or to spread the gospel in Africa, the law would be 
unconstitutional. 

The want of power to lay and collect taxes was a 
radical defect of the Confederation. JSTo goyernment 
can be eflQcient in peace or war, unless it can command 
the means for meeting its pecuniary expenditure. It 
can have this means only as it has the power of laying 
and collecting taxes. 

Taxes include contributions of eyery kind required 
by the goyernment from its subjects for the seryice 
of the State. Imposts are taxes leyied upon goods 
upon their importation from a foreign country. Ex- 
cises are taxes leyied upon goods manufactured or 
sold in the country. The word "duties," as generally 
used, includes imposts and excises, and taxes on goods 
exported from a country. 

All taxes laid by Congress must be uniform 
throughout the United States. This is an obyious 
dictate of justice. 

Can Congress impose a duty, that is, lay a tax 
for protecting and encouraging domestic manufac- 
tures, on goods imported from foreign countries ? 
This question has been warmly debated by the friends 
and opponents of a tariff for the protection and en- 



THE SCIEN-CE OF GOYERNMEN'T. 117 

couragement of domestic industry. It is admitted by 
all, that Congress has power to lay a tariff for raising 
a revenue to be applied to paying the debts and prov 
moting the general welfare ; but it has been denied by 
some that Congress has power to lay a tariff for the 
encouragement of domestic industry. If Congress has 
powej* to lay and collect taxes in order to promote the 
general welfare, then, if the laying of a tariff is adapted 
to promote the general welfare, it would seem that 
Congress has power to lay a tariff. 

The preamble to the first act of the first Congress 
under the Constitution for raising a reyenue, recog- 
nizes the duty, on the part of Congress, of encourag- 
ing domestic manufactures. It does not appear that 
there was a single member of Congress who doubted 
its power to make laws for the encouragement of do- 
mestic manufactures. Hamilton's celebrated Report 
on Manufactures takes for granted that Congress pos- 
sesses this power. The doctrine that laws for the en- 
couragement and protection of domestic manufactures 
are unconstitutional, was first taught by men who had 
been instrumental in causing such laws to be passed. ■ 

The question is not open to debate. Repeated de- 
cisions of the Supreme Court, the tribunal authorized 
by the Constitution, have settled the question. 

The question whether Congress ought to pass such 
laws, or whether a system of free trade should prevail, 
is a question of political economy, and not of constitu- 



118 THE SCIEKOE OF GOVERITMEI^T. 

tional law. On this question there is a difference of 
opinion among statesmen, and will be, probably, for 
many years. 

Congress has also power, 

2. "To borrow money on the credit of the 
United States." If this power were not possessed, 
it would be necessary to provide by taxation for 
every public expenditure. This would be impossible 
in a long and expensive war. The United States 
could not have raised by taxation the immense sums 
expended in the late civil war. If a country cannot 
carry on war, it cannot support its dignity and maintain 
its independence. Power to contract debts may be said 
to be essential to the continuance of a government. 

The law of nations recognizes the power of all 
governments to contract debts, and makes the debts 
contracted by one government binding on a succeed- 
ing government, though that government may be of 
an entirely different nature, and may be founded on 
the forcible overthrow of the previous government. 

The exercise of this power by the government 
should be closely watched by the people. 

Congress has also power, 

3. "To regulate commerce with foreign 
nations, and among the several States, and with the 
Indian trihes." 

To regulate commerce is to prescribe the rules 
for carrying on commercial intercourse between nations. 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVEKJ^MENT. 119 

Ifc of course includes rules relating to navigation. 
The Confederation did not possess this power, and the 
consequence was the ruin of our interests connected 
with commerce and navigation. Foreign nations 
placed such restrictions on our commerce as they 
chose, and the Congress of the Confederation had no 
power to make any retaliatory restrictions, or take any 
corrective measures. 

From the commencement of the government under 
the Constitution, this power has been exercised. Of 
course it involves power to lay a protective, or even a 
prohibitive tariff. 

In 1807, the question was raised whether Congress 
had power to lay an embargo of unlimited duration. 
An embargo forbids all ships and vessels from leaving 
any port in the country for any foreign port, so long 
as the embargo continues. In 1807, President Jeffer- 
son recommended the laying of an embargo by Con- 
gress, as a measure of safety for our vessels, which 
suffered in consequence of the wars then in progress 
among the European powers. It was laid. Its con- 
stitutionality was questioned by some in the commer- 
cial States. It was admitted that Congress had power 
to regulate commerce, but it was contended that to 
regulate was not to destroy. An embargo unlimited 
in duration was the destruction of commerce. 

An appeal was made to the Supreme Court upon 
the question. The court decided that the law was 



120 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERl^MENT. 

constitutional. Since then the power has not been 
questioned, though it has not been exercised. 

The power to regulate commerce includes 
power to pass Navigation Laws. Navigation laws have 
for their object the granting of peculiar privileges to 
the ship-owners of the country making the laws. 
The power of Congress to pass such laws has not been 
called in question. 

Congress has also power to regulate commerce 
among the States. This is necessary to the prosperity 
and harmony of the States. "If each State were at 
liberty to regulate the trade between State and State, 
it is easy to foresee that ways would be found out to 
load the articles of import and export, during their 
passage through the jurisdiction, with duties which 
should fail on the makers of the latter and the con^ 
sumers of the former. The experience of the Ameri- 
can States under the Confederation abundantly estab- 
lishes that such arrangements could be and would be 
made under the stimulating influence of local inter- 
ests, and the desire of undue gain. Instead of acting 
as one nation in regard to foreign powers, the States 
individually commenced a system of restraint upon 
each other, whereby the interests of foreign powers 
were promoted at their expense. When one State 
imposed high duties on the goods or vessels of a for- 
eign power, to countervail the regulations of such 
power, the next adjoining States imposed lighter du- 



THE SCIE>?"CE OF GOYEKXMEXT. 121 

ties, to inyite those articles into their ports, that they 
might be transferred thence into the other States, se- 
curing the duties to themselves. This contracted policy 
in some of the States was soon counteracted by oth- 
ers, Eestraints were immediately laid upon such 
commerce by the suffering State ; and thus a state of 
affairs disorderly and unnatural grew up, the neces- 
sary tendency of which was to destroy the Union 
itself."* 

All these difficulties were brought to an end by 
conferring upon Congi*ess the power to regulate com- 
merce among the States. 

The power to regulate commerce with the Indian 
tribes was necessary to the peace and safety of the 
frontier States. 

The possession of this power to regulate com- 
merce, enabled Congress to place the country on equal- 
ity with foreign nations, and to compel them to respect 
the rights of our commerce, and to establish an equi- 
table and harmonious intercourse among the States. 
The possession of this power by Congress was abso- 
lutely necessary to make the States one nation. 

Congress has also power, 

4. " To establish afi uniform ruU of naturalization, 
and \iniform lavjs on the sul)ject of bankruptcies ^ 
throughout tlie United States J^ 

* Story, 



122 THE SCIE1?^CE OF GOVEENMENT. 

An alien, that is a foreigner, a subject of a foreign 
State, is naturalized when, in accordance with the law, 
he has renounced his allegiance to his sovereign or 
government, and taken the oath of allegiance to the 
Government of the United States. He is then a citi- 
zen of the United States, entitled to all the rights and 
privileges of those who were born citizens, except the 
privilege of being eligible to the Vice-Presidency and 
Presidency of the United States. As the citizens of 
each State are entitled to all the rights of citizenship 
in the other States, the mle for making citizens ought 
of course to be uniform. 

A bankrupt law is a law releasing the debtor 
from the legal obligation to pay his debts. Whether a 
release from legal obligation is also a release from 
moral obligation is a question of morals. Whether 
bankrupt laws ought to be passed is doubted by many. 
Granting that it is proper that such laws should be 
passed, it is clear that they should be passed by the 
Congress of the United States, that they may be uni- 
form throughout the States. That there are evils con- 
nected with a law by which the debtor can free him- 
self from legal obligation to pay his debts, cannot be 
denied. 

Most of the States have insolvent laws, but they 
do not affect debts contracted previous to the pas- 
sage of the law, nor debts due to citizens of another 
State. 



THE SCIENCE OF goyer:s^mekt. 123 

Congress also has power, 

5. *' To coin money, regulate the value thereof 
and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and 
measuj^es." 

6. ^^ To provide for the punishment of counterfeit- 
ing the securities and c^irrent coin of the United 
States." $ 

The coin of the country should be of uniform 
jiurity and yalue, and hence should be issued by the 
;N"ational GoTernment. If the States or if individ- 
uals were to coin money, provided they put the same 
amount of gold and silver in the coin that is put in at 
the mint of the United States, their coin would be as 
valuable as the coin of the United States. But if the 
different States and individuals were allowed to coin, 
there would be less security for the purity of the coin 
than at present. It is true that the coin may be de- 
based by the agents of the United States, but the 
security is greater when one power controls the 
issue. 

It is of the utmost importance to the business 
interests of the country that weights and measures 
should be uniform. This could not well be secured, 
if the regulating power were not vested in Congress. 

The power to punish the counterfeiting of the 
securities and coin of the United States, appropriately 
follows the power to issue the same. 

Congi-ess has power, 



124 THE SCIE]!^CE OE GOVERKMEITT. 

7. "To establish Post-Offices and Post- 
Roads." 

The National Government only can establish and 
support an efficient postal system throughout the 
United States. To establish post-offices and post-roads, 
is not merely to designate the places where post-offices 
shall be kept, and the roads over which the mail shall 
be carried ; it gives Oongi-ess power to build post- 
offices, and if need be to construct roads. Power to 
do these things is implied in the power to establish 
post-offices and post-roads. Power to do a thing im- 
plies power to use the necessary means. 

Congress has power, 

8. " To promote the progress of science and 
useful arts, hy securing for limited times to autliors and 
inventors the exclusive rigid to their respective writ- 
ings and discoveries.^^ 

It is difficult to see why an author has not as per- 
manent a right to the product of his brain as the shoe- 
maker has to the product of his hands. It is true, he 
cannot enforce his right, even for a limited time, 
without a copyright granted by the government. If 
Congress had not the power to grant copyrights, the 
author would be obliged to apply to tlie State govern- 
ments. His property would not be secure unless he 
had a copyright from every State. If he had a copy- 
right in only one State, it might be violated with 



THE SCIEis'CE OF GOYERXMEi^T. 125 

impunity in every other State. The same remarks 
apply to patents for invention s. 
Congress has power, 

9. "To constitute tribunals inferior to the 
Sujpreme Court. ^^ 

10. '' To define and punish piracies and fel- 
onies committed on the high seas, and offences against 
the laiu of nation s.^^ 

The National G-overnment is responsible to foreign 
governments for the conduct of its citizens on the high 
seas, hence it should have power to define and punish 
offences committed there. The '^high seas" begin at 
low-water mark, and embrace all the waters of the 
ocean. The term felony is usually employed to 
designate such crimes as are punishable by death. 

Congress has power, 

11. " To declare war, grant letters of marque 
and reprisal, and malce rules concerning captures on 
land and water. ''^ 

12. " To raise and support armies ; lut no 
appropriation of money to that use shall he for a longer 
term than two yearsr 

13. " To provide and maintain a navy." 

14. "To make rules for the government and 
regulation of the land and naval forces.''^ 

15. " To provide for calling forth the mil- 
itia to execute the laius of the Union, suppress insur- 
rections, and repel invasions J^ 



126 THE SCIEKCE OF GOYERITMENT. 

16. '' To provide for organizing, arming , and disci- 
plining the militia, and for governing such part of them 
as may be employed in the service of the United States, 
reserving to the States respectively, the appointment 
of the officers, and the authority of trai?iing the militia 
according to the discipline prescribed hy Congress." 

The declaration of war is a solemn act, and one in 
which it is fitting that both branches of the legislature 
and the executive take part. War should not be entered 
upon unless deemed necessary by a majority of both 
houses of Congress, and by the President. 

The British Constitution gives to the king alone 
the power to declare war ; yet, as the Commons hold 
the purse, he cannot carry on a war unless a majority 
of the Commons approve it. Thus the power to de- 
clare war rests practically with the House of Commons. 

Letters of marque and reprisal are commissions 
granted by a government to its citizens to seize the 
property of an enemy, or of persons belonging to 
another government refusing to do justice to the citi- 
zens of the country granting the commissions. 

If two nations are at war, individuals are not at 
liberty to fit out armed vessels, and seize the property 
of the enemy on the high seas. Were this done with- 
out a commission from the government, it would be 
piracy, and the authors would, if captured by the 
enemy, be treated as pirates, and not as prisoners of 
war. 



THE SCIENCE OF GOYERN-MEKT. 137 

Under tlie Confederation, Congress had no power 
to raise armies. It had power simply '^ to agree upon 
the number of land forces, and to make requisitions 
from each State for its quota." It was then the duty 
of each State to furnish its quota. Experience proved 
that the system was miserably inadequate. ''It is 
essential to the common defence, that the national 
government should possess the power to raise armies, 
build and equip fleets, prescribe rules for the govern- 
ment of both, and provide for their support." 

The power to raise and support armies is not with- 
out limitation. No appropriation of money for the 
support of armies can be made for a longer term than 
two years. A new Congress is chosen every two 
years. If the people disapprove of the war, they can 
put an end to it by electing to Congress men repre- 
senting their views. 

Congress has power to provide for the calling out 
of the militia to execute the laws, to suppress insurrec- 
tions, and repel invasions. It was necessary to give 
Congress this power, or to keep a standing army. In 
1795, Congress, in pursuance of this authority, pro- 
vided by law '' that whenever the United States shall 
be invaded, or be in imminent danger of invasion from 
any foreign nation or Indian tribe, it shall be lawful 
for the President to call forth such a number of the 
militia of the State or of the States most convenient 
to the place of danger or scene of action, as he may 



138 THE SCIENCE OF GOVEEI^MEKT. 

judge necessary to repel said invasion, and to issue 
his order for that purpose to such officer or officers of 
the mihtia as he shall think proper." 

The Constitution says that Congress shall provide 
for calling out the militia to repel invasions. The law 
authorizes the President to call them out in case of 
"imminent danger of invasion," on the principle that 
power to repel invasion includes the power to guard 
against any attempt and danger of invasion. 

A decision of the Supreme Court has determined 
that the authority to decide when the danger is suf- 
ficient to justify a call for the militia, rests with the 
President, and not with the officers to whom the or- 
ders of the President are addressed. If the President 
should abuse the power, and call out the militia when 
there was no necessity for so doing, he would be liable 
to impeachment. 

The power to organize, arm, and discipline the 
militia, and to govern such part of them as may be 
employed in the service of the United States, is neces- 
sary to their efficiency. The appointment of the 
officers, and authority to train the militia according to- 
the discipline prescribed by Congress, is reserved to 
the States. It was the policy of the framers of the 
Constitution to leave as much power to the States as 
was consistent with an efficient government for the 
United States. 

Congress has power. 



THE SCIENCE OF GOYERi^MEKT. 139 

Art. 1, § 8, 17. "To exercise exclusive legislation 
in all cases wliatsoever over such district {not exceeding 
ten miles square) as may, hy cession of particular States, 
and the accejptance of Congress, become the seat of 
governmefit of the United States, and to exercise like 
authority over all places purchased hy the consent of 
the legislature of the State in which the same shall he, 
for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dochyards, 
and other needful buildings; and to mahe all laws 
which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into 
executioii the foregoing powers, and all other ptowers 
vested by this Constitution in the government of the 
United States, or in any department or officer thereof. ^^ 

It is necessary for the independence of Congress- 
tliat it should possess supreme authority over the place 
of its sessions. At one time, the Congress of the 
Confederation, while sitting at Philadelphia, was sur- 
rounded by a mob of mutineers from the Continental 
army. The executiye of Pennsylvania not taking 
prompt measures for their defence, Congress adjourned 
to Princeton, New Jersey, and from thence, for greater 
•convenience, to Annapolis. 

The forts, magazines, etc., belonging to the 
United States, should not be under the control of 
any one of the States. This is too plain to need 
proof. 

While it is conceded by all, that Congress had no 
power to abolish slavery in the States so long as those 
6* 



130 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERI^MEITT. 

States performed their constitutional duties, yet there 
can be no doubt as to their power to abolish slavery 
in the District of Columbia. The Constitution clothes 
Congress with power to " exercise exclusive legislation 
in all cases whatsoever." 

Congress exercised this power in the year 1863, by 
forever abolishing slavery in the District of Co- 
lumbia. 

The clause declaring that Congress shall have 
power to make all laws which shall be necessary and 
proper for carrying into execution the powers ex- 
pressly conferred, was scarcely necessary. Power to 
do a thing includes the power to use the necessary 
means for doing it. 

This clause of the Constitution has become note- 
worthy, because on it was founded the argument for 
the constitutionality of a national bank. The power 
of Congress to charter a national bank was once keenly 
debated, and the leading statesmen of the day took 
opposite sides of the question. 

The first national bank was chartered by Con- 
gress in the early part of the first administration of 
Washington, with a capital of $10,000,000. When the 
bill was presented to Washington, he asked the opin- 
ion of his cabinet. Hamilton and Knox advised him 
to sign the bill, Jefferson and Eandolph advised against 
it. After long deliberation, he signed it, and it be- 
came a law. 



THE SCIEJfCE OF GOVEEI?"MElfT. 131 

The charter of the bank expired in 1811. In 
1816 a second national bank, chartered by Congress, 
went into operation with a capital of $30,000,000. 
Its charter expired in 1836. Bills renewing its char- 
ter were passed by Congress, and vetoed by President 
Jackson on the gronnd that they were, in his view, 
unconstitutional. 

The main argument in favor of the constitution- 
ality of an act of Congress chartering a bank of the 
United States, may be stated as follows : a bank is a 
necessary and proper means of conducting the fiscal 
affairs of the government, therefore it is constitu- 
tional. 

The objector says that it is not a necessary means, 
for the fiscal affairs of the government can be, and 
have been, managed without it. 

To this it is replied that the term necessary is not 
to be taken in its strictest sense, for it is followed and 
modified by the word proper — " necessary and proper " 
means. 

The question has been twice before the Supreme 
Court, and the decision in both cases was in fa- 
vor of the constitutionality of the bank. Since the 
arbiter appointed by the Constitution has decided 
the question, it can no longer be regarded as an open 
one. 

This power was exercised by Congress in 1863, in 
the passage of ^' the act to provide a national cur- 



132 THE SOIEKCE OF GOVEECtfMEHT. 

rency, secured by a pledge of United States stocks, 
and to provide for the circulation and redemption 
thereof." 

This act gave existence to the national banks 
which are scattered throughout the land. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

PROHIBITIONS. ON CONGRESS AND THE STATES. 

Art. 1, § 9, 1. '^ The migration or importation 
of such persons as any of the States now existing shall 
thinh proper to admit, shall not de prohibited ly 
Congress prior to the year 07ie thousand eight hundred 
and eight ; hut a tax or duty may le imposed on such 
importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each per- 
son" 

The slave trade was carried on between Africa 
and the Southern States, and by every civilized nation 
of Europe, when the Constitution was formed. When 
the subject came before the convention, some of the 
States desired to introduce into the Constitution an 
article prohibiting it at once. 

The proposition to allow its continuance to the 
year 1808, was finally carried by the aid of Northern 
votes. It is supposed that some of the Northern 
votes were given for the extension of the slave trade. 



134 THE SCIEKCE OF GOYERKMEKT. 

on condition that Southern vofces should be given in 
favor of navigation laws desired by the North. It is 
estimated that 300,000 slaves were imported between 
the time of the formation of the Constitution and 1808. 

This was the first movement in the civilized world 
toward restricting and abolishing that inhuman traffic. 
Congress prohibited it as soon as this provision of the 
Constitution would allow. 

Art. 1, § 9, 2. " The privilege of the writ of 
habeas corpus shall not he suspended^ unless vhen, in 
cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may 
require it.'' 

The writ of habeas corpus is the great safeguard 
against unjust imprisonment. If a man is arrested 
and imprisoned, a writ of habeas corpus may be sued 
out before a competent judge. By this writ, the judge 
orders the man to be brought before him, and requires 
those detaining him to show cause why he should not 
be discharged. If good reasons are given why he 
should be deprived of his liberty, the judge remands 
him to prison. If good cause is not shown, he 
discharges him. While this writ is not suspended, 
no one can be held in prison for any considerabte 
length of time, without just cause. It may, therefore, 
well be regarded as one of the greatest safeguards of 
individual liberty. 

There may come emergencies when the public 
safety may require that the writ be suspended. The 



THE SCIEN'CE OF GOVERNMElJfT. 135 

only emergencies authorizing its suspension are rebel- 
lion and invasion. 

During the late rebellion, the writ of habeas cor- 
pus was suspended. Men were arrested and put in 
prison without the forms of law. It was one of those 
extraordinary occasions, which, according to the con- 
stitutional provision, justify the suspension of the 
writ of habeas corpus. 

Who is to decide whether, m time of rebellion or 
invasion, the public safety requires the suspension of 
the writ ? Congress or the President ? Some con- 
tend that the power to decide rests with the President : 
others, that it rests with Congress. In the late suspen- 
sion, the act was done by the President, and subse- 
quently sanctioned by Congress. 

Art. 1, § 9, 3. "iVb Mil of attainder or ex post 
facto law shall be passed," 

A bill of attainder is an act of a legislature declar- 
ing a man guilty of some crime, and sentencing him 
to death. In former days such acts were passed, often 
without giving the accused an opportunity to answer 
to the accusation brought against him, and without 
the formality of proof. Many legislative murders 
have thus been committed. The bloody records of 
the past led our fathers effectually to prevent this 
kind of injustice in the United States. Ours is the 
first government prohibiting acts of attainder. 

An ex post facto law defines itself as being 



136 THE SCIENCE OF GOVEENMElfrT. 

made after the performance of the act which it de- 
clares to be criminal. The obvious injustice of such a 
law renders it proper that it should be forbidden by 
the Constitution. '^ The prohibition reaches every 
law whereby an act is declared a crime, and made pun- 
ishable as such, when it was not a crime when done ; 
or whereby an act, if a crime, is aggravated in enor- 
mity or punishment ; or whereby different or less evi- 
dence is required to convict an offender than was 
required when the act was committed." 

Art. 1, § 9, 4. "JVb capitation or other direct 
tax shall he laid unless i7i proportion to the census or 
enumeration herein lefore directed to he tahen,'''' 

A capitation is a poll-tax, that is, a tax levied by 
the head. This clause required, that in laying a poll- 
tax only three-fifths of the slaves should be counted. 
Three-fifths of the slaves, it will be recollected, were in- 
cluded in the enumeration of the population with 
reference to representation and direct taxes.* 

Art. 1, § 9, 5. ^^ No tax or duty shall he laid on 
articles exported from any State. No preference shall 
he given hy any regulation of commerce or revenue to 
the 'ports of one State over those of another ; nor shall 
vessels hound to or from one State, he ohliged to enter, 
clear, or pay duties in another. ^^ 

*' To enter," is for the captain to report the arrival 
of the ship and the contents of the cargo, and get 
* The abolition of slavery renders this provision inoperative. 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERKMEKT. 137 

leave to land the same. " To clear," is to report the 
ship and her intended voyage and cargo, and receive 
the necessary papers from the authorities. 

This requires the National Government to treat the 
different States with equal justice. Under the British 
colonial system, no American vessel could enter a port 
on the continent of Europe, unless it had previously 
entered and cleared from a British port. The object 
of this was to benefit British ports. Congress cannot 
pursue a similar course in regard to any one of the 
States. 

Art. 1, § 9, 6. '' No money sliallle drawn from 
the treasury, hut in consequence of appropriations 
made hy laid ; and a regular statement and account 
of the receipts and expenditures of all pullic money 
shall le puUished from time to time." 

The improper use of the public funds by any 
officer of government is here guarded against, and 
additional responsibility is thrown upon those who have 
charge of the treasury, by the publication of the re- 
ceipts and expenditures. 

Art. 1, § 9, 7. "No title of nobility shall be 
granted by the United States ; a7id no person holding 
any office of profit or trust under them shall, without 
the co7isent of Congress, accept any present, emolu- 
ment, office, or title of any hind whatever, from aiiy 
Icing, prince, or foreign State," 

Titles of nobilitv are inconsistent with the equality 



138 THE SCIEiq^CE OF GOVERN'MEKT. 

which is the basis of republican institutions. The re- 
maining provision was intended to guard against for- 
eign influence. The officials of one government have 
often been bribed to favor the interests of another. 
This provision of the Constitution is not a perfect 
safeguard against bribery, but it will act as a restraint ; 
at least, no one can be bribed by a title which he can- 
not accept. 

The States are also prohibited from granting any 
title of nobility. 

Art. 1, § 10, 1. "iVo State shall enter into any 
treaty f alliance, or confederation; grant letters of 
marque and reprisal; coin money ; emit Mils of 
credit ; malce any thing hut gold and silver coin a tender 
in payment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post 
facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, 
or grant any title of nobility.''^ 

If a State could enter into treaties with foreign 
nations, it would render useless the power given to the 
General Government to make treaties. One State 
might enter into engagements with foreign nations, 
which might be very injurious to other States. The 
action of a single State might involve the whole na- 
tion in war. In fact, the chances for war would be 
multiplied by the number of States. There could be 
no such thing as a supreme national government, if the 
individual States could enter into treaties, alliances, or 
confederations. We may here notice the impropriety 



THE SCIENCE OF GOYERXMEXT. 139 

of speaking of the States as sovereign States, when 
they are entirely destitute of the treaty-making power. 

If the States could grant • letters of marque and 
reprisal, there would be constant danger of war. 
Each State might as well have power to declare war 
as to issue letters of marque. 

If each Statd could coin money, the coinage of the 
different States might be different. There might be 
as many different currencies as States. Those who 
have travelled in Europe, and found themselves com- 
pelled to use different kinds of money in the course of 
a few hours, as they passed from one territory to 
another, can have some idea of the great inconvenience 
that would result from having different kinds of 
money in the different States. 

If the States possessed power to coin money con- 
currently with the G-eneral Government, and were to 
adopt and issue the same coins, there would not be the 
same security that there noAV is that the work would 
be faithfully done. 

Under the Confederation, the States had a con- 
current power -Rdth Congress to coin money ; but 
Congi'ess had exclusive power to regulate the alloy and 
the value of the coin issued by the States. The cost 
of coining is less, and the security for uniformity in 
value greater, by vesting the power of coining exclu- 
sively in the Xational Government. 

The prohibition relating to biUs of credit was 



140 THE SCIENCE OF GOVEEKMEI^T. 

designed to prevent the States from issuing paper 
money — that is, treasury notes or government promises 
to pay, intended to circulate as money. Before and 
during the Eevolution, Congress and the legislatures 
of the States issued bills of credit or paper money. 
The consequence was, the disappearance of gold and 
silver from circulation, and the contintied depreciation 
of the bills until they became worthless. The evils of 
an irredeemable, depreciating currency are great 
beyond calculation. There can be no doubt as to the 
wisdom of this prohibition on the States, and it may 
be questioned if there would not have been equal wis- 
dom in extending it to the United States. 

This prohibition to issue bills of credit, does not 
deprive the States of the power to borrow money, and 
to give bonds or certificates of indebtedness. When 
the Constitution was formed, bills of credit signified a 
paper currency issued by the legislative power. 

No State can " make any thing but gold and silver 
coin a tender in payment of debts." ^^ A tender is an 
offer of a sum of money in satisfaction of a sum or 
claim, by producing and showing the amount to the 
creditor or party claiming, and expressing verbally a 
willingness to pay it. A mere offer to pay it is not, 
in legal strictness, a tender." Gold and silver is the 
usual legal tender throughout the civilized world. 
Gold and silver alone constitute money. When a 
man contracts a debt, enters into an engagement to 



THE SCIE^fTCE OF GOYEElS'^rEXT. 141 

pay money,. his creditor is wronged if he is obliged to 
take any thing else. 

The legislation of the States fnrnished many ex- 
amples of the evil guarded against by this prohibition. 
'' Property of any sort, however worthless, either real 
or personal, might be tendered by the debtor in pay- 
ment of his debt ; and the creditor was compelled to 
take the property of the debtor, which he might seize 
on execution, at an appraisement wholly dispropor- 
tionate to its real yalue." Such laws "entailed the 
most enormous evils on the country ; and introduced 
a system of fraud, chicanery, and profligacy which 
destroyed all private confidence, industry, and enter- 
prise." * 

The Constitution does not prohibit Congress from 
establishing by law a legal tender not consisting of 
gold and silver. It does not formally bestow the 
power to do it. It is silent on the subject. 

No State "shall pass any bill of attainder or ex 
post facto law:' Before the adoption of the Federal 
Constitution, every State, unless prevented by its 
own constitution, might pass bills of attainder and ex 
post facto laws. We have seen that Congress is for- 
bidden to pass such laws. That prohibition would be 
of little consequence, if the same prohibition were not 
laid upon the States. Such laws were often passed 
by the States during the Eevolutionary war. 

* Story. 



142 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

No State shall pass any " law impairing the obli- 
gation of contracts." The object of this provision is 
to secure the inviolability of contracts. The word 
contract is here used in a much wider sense than that 
of an agreement between man and man. It includes 
legislative grants, charters, and compacts between 
States. If a State were to pass a law altering the 
terms of an existing contract or agreement between 
parties, the law would be null and void, because it 
would be unconstitutional. If a State grants certain 
privileges to a corporation, to a banking company for 
example, so long as the company complies with the 
terms and conditions of the grant, the legislature can 
not repeal or change the character of the grant. 

A charter or act of incorporation is a con- 
tract in view of the Constitution. So long as the trus- 
tees do not violate their charter, it cannot be altered 
by the legislature without their consent. 

Does not this clause of the Constitution prohibit 
the States from passing insolvent laws ? It prohibits 
them from passing laws affecting debts contracted 
before the passage of the law, and debts due to citi- 
zens of another State. The Supreme Court has de- 
cided that the States may pass laws discharging the 
debtor from debts contracted subsequently to the pas- 
sage of the law. The creditor allowed the debt to be 
contracted knowing that the insolvent law existed. 

Art. 1, § 10, 2. ^^ No State shall, ivithout the 



THE SCIENCE OF GOYEEXMEJfT. 143 

consent of the Congress, lay a7iy imposts or duties on 
imports or exports, except luTiat may be absolutely ne- 
cessary for executing its inspection laics; and the net 
prodtice of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on 
imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury 
of the United States ; and all such laics shall be sub- 
ject to the revision and control of the Congress. No 
State shall, icithout the consejit of Congress, lay any 
duty of tonnage, Tceep troops or ships of icar in time of 
pea^e, enter into any compact or agreement ivith another 
State, or with a foreign power, or engage in umr, 
unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as 
'Will not admit of delay. ^^ 

The object of an inspection law is to secure the 
purchaser against imposition, by an oflScial examina- 
tion of the article, and a certificate as to the quality 
of the same. The interests of ISTew York require that 
the flour sent from that port be of good quality, or 
at least that it be what it purports to be. To secure 
this, an inspector is appointed by the State, who 
inspects the flour about to be shipped. For this he 
must be paid, and if it be necessary for the execution 
of the law, the State may lay a duty to meet the ex- 
pense. If the duty brings in more than is necessary 
to execute the law, it must be paid over to the United 
States. If this were not required by the Constitu- 
tion, the State might raise a revenue from exports or 
imports, under pretence of making provision for the 



144 . THE SCIEl^CE OF GOVERN'MENT. 

execution of her inspection laws. To prevent every- 
thing of the kind, it is expressly provided that snch 
laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the 
Congress. 

Tonnage is the number of tons burden which a 
ship can carry. A duty on tonnage is a tax propor- 
tioned to the tonnage of the ship. 

As the power to declare war is vested in 
Congress, and as the protection of the whole Union 
is confided to the National Government, there is 
no reason why any individual State should keep 
troops or armed ships in time of peace. In time 
of war, a State may be so situated as to render 
it necessary for her to raise troops in addition to 
those of the jSTational Government. So also, when 
the State is in imminent danger of invasion, it is 
proper that the State should possess and exercise 
this power. 

We have thus considered the powers conferred 
on Congress by the Constitution, and the pro- 
hibitions on Congress and on the State legis- 
latures. We have seen that such powers were 
conferred on Congress, as were necessary to enable 
it effectually to provide for the common interests 
of the States, and the welfare of the whole as one 
nation. We have seen that each State has power 
to legislate on domestic interests, and that Congress 



THE SCIEl^CE OF GOVERIOrEls-T. I45 

is restrained from interfering with such legislation. 
The two systems of government, the National and 
the State, are so adjusted as to work in harmo- 
ny, ^ and unite in promoting the prosperity of the 
nation. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE EXECUTITE DEFABTMEIST. 



Art. 2, § 1. "The executive power shall he 
vested in a President of the United States of America, 
He shall hold his office during the term of four years, 
and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the 
same term, he elected as follows. " 

A prompt, vigorous, and faithful execution of the 
laws is essential to good goyemment. Experience has 
shown that such an execution of the laws is most 
likely to be secured when the executive department is 
distinct from the iegislatiye. 

Experience has also shown that the executive 
power should be vested in a single person — that a 
single is better than a plural executive. 

Unity, secrecy, promptness of decision and action 
are best secured by a single executive. Differences 
of opinion. Jealousies, and a divided responsibility are 
liable to take place in a plural executive. 

Rome had a plural executive in her two consuls. 
History records the resulting evils. 

Some of the American States during the Revolu- 



THE SCIEifCE OF GOYER2!s"ME>7T. 147 

fcionary war had a plural executiye. The executiye 
power in Pennsylvania was at one time vested in a 
committee of thirteen. The palpable evils resulting, 
led all the States to adopt a single executive. It may, 
therefore, be regarded as a settled maxim in political 
science, that the executive power should be vested in 
a single person. On this point the framers of the 
Constitution were unanimous. 

The President is elected for four years. There 
was a good deal of discussion on this point in the Fed- 
eral Convention. Some wished to have the term of 
service much shorter, and some wished to have it 
extended to seven years. Hamilton would have had it 
continue during good behavior. 

In favor of four years it may be said, that it is 
long enough to carry out a system of policy. If the 
executive power were possessed but for one year, a 
system could only be entered upon ; it could not be 
completed, or so far carried out as to be tested. Kotli- 
ing important would be undertaken. To meet the 
exigencies of the hour would be all that the executive 
would attempt to do. 

On the contrary, were the executive power possessed 
for ten years, there would be danger of its abuse. All 
experience has shown that men cannot be trusted with 
power for any great length of time. The weakness 
and wickedness of man requires that great power should 
not be in the same hands for a great length of time. 



148 THE SCIEI^CE OF GOVERNMENT. 

It will be observed that the President's term of 
office is intermediate between that of the representa- 
tive and the senator. The House of Eepresentatives 
may be entirely changed, and two-thirds of the Senate, 
during one Presidential term. If, therefore, the exec- 
utive power is seen to influence unduly the legisla- 
ture, the people can elect representatives and senators 
who will be less subservient to his will. 

The President can be re-elected as many 
times as the people may see fit. Some think he should 
not be reeligible. If this were the case, he would not 
shape his policy with reference to securing a reelection. 
On the other hand, he might pursue a course of cor- 
ruption which fche hope of a reelection might prevent. 

If he were not reeligible, the services of a very 
valuable man might be lost when most needed. There 
are times when experience is of the utmost import- 
ance. It would be very unwise to prevent the people 
from availing themselves of the experience gained by 
four years' service in the executive department. The 
loss to the country of Washington's second term of 
service would have been irreparable. 

It should be remembered that the office of Presi- 
dent does not exist for the benefit of the politicians, 
but for the benefit of the people. The Constitution 
should make such provisions in respect to it, as will 
secure to the people the most faithful execution of the 
laws, not such as will give to political aspirants the 



THE SCIEXCE OF GOYEKXMEXT. 149 

best opportunities of securing tlie exercise of execu= 
tive power. 

The Constitution makes provision for a Vice-Presi- 
dent, to be chosen at the same time and in the same 
mode as the President. It was the intention of the 
framers of the Constitution to make the office one of 
dignity, to which no one would be chosen who was 
not fully qualified to exercise the office of President. 
John Adams was chosen the first Vice-President, and 
Thomas Jefferson the second. Subsequently the office 
began to be regarded as an unimj)ortant one ; but the 
accession of three Vice-Presidents to the Presidency, 
in each case for nearly the full term of four years, has 
restored the importance of the office in the yiew of 
the people. Experience has shown the wisdom of 
providing for the filling of the office of President, in 
case of his decease or removal, without having re- 
course to a special election. Hereafter, it is hoped, 
the people will be as careful in selecting their Vice- 
President as their President. 

Art. 2, § 1, 2. '' Each State shall appoint, in such 
mamier as the legislature thereof may direct, a nuniber 
of electors equal to tlie wliole nuniber of senators and 
representatives to which the State may he entitled in 
the Congress ; iut no senator or representative, or per- 
son holding an office of p>rofit or trust under tlie United 
States, shall ie appointed an elector." 

When the Constitution went into operation, the 



150 THE SCIEiq^CE OF GOVERNMENT. 

Presidential Electors were in some States chosen by 
the legislatures, in others the legislatures directed 
that they should be chosen by the people. When 
John Jay was governor of New York, the electors 
were chosen by the legislature. By calling an extra 
session of the legislature, he could have secured the 
election to the Presidency of his candidate, and kept 
his party in power for at least four years longer. He 
judged that it " did not become him to do it." He 
would not use his power as governor to promote the 
ascendency of his party, though it could be legally 
done. 

At present, the electors in all the States are chosen 
by the people. All persons holding offices of profit 
or trust under the United States, are prohibited from 
being electors. This provision was designed to pre- 
vent office-holders from exerting their official influence 
in the electoral college. The design of having electors 
was to secure a better choice for President than would 
be made by the people. It was thought and expected 
that the electors would select a man for President, 
and that they would be better qualified to make a se- 
lection than the people at large. 

The practical working of this provision of the 
Constitution has been entirely difierent from what 
was expected by those who made it. The electors 
have not been called on to select a candidate, but to 
elect one already selected. The people might just as 



THE SCIENCE OF GOYERXilE^STT. 151 

well vote directly for President as to vote for electors. 
The system of electors has proved to be a useless 
piece of constitutional mechanism. 

Art. 2, § 1, 3. '' The Congress may determine 
the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which 
they shall give their votes, which day shall he the same 
throughout the United States ^ 

If the votes in different States were given at differ- 
ent times, there would be a greater opportunity for 
intrigue and corruption than if the votes were given 
on the same day. Suppose the votes were given at 
different times, and that the electors had voted in all 
the States except one, and that on the electors of that 
State the choice depended ; a great temptation for cor- 
ruption would be offered. This is in a great measure 
avoided by having all the votes given on the same day. 

"In pursuance of the authority given by this 
clause. Congress, in 1792, passed an act declaring that 
the electors shall be appointed in each State within 
thirty-four days preceding the first Wednesday in De- 
cember in every fourth year, succeeding the last elec- 
tion of President, according to the apportionment of 
senators and representatives then existing. The elect- 
ors chosen are required to meet and give their votes 
on the said first "Wednesday in December, at such 
place in each State as shall be directed by the legisla- 
ture thereof. They are then to make and sign three 
certificates of all the votes by them given, and to seal 



152 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMEii^T. 

up the same, certifying on each that a list of the votes 
of such State for President and Vice-President is 
contained therein, and are to appoint a person to take 
charge of and deliver one of the same certificates to 
the President of the Senate at the seat of government, 
before the first Wednesday of January then next en- 
suing ; another of the certificates is to be forwarded 
forthwith by the Post-ofl&ce to the President of the 
Senate at the seat of government ; and the third is to 
be delivered to the judge of the district in which the 
electors assembled." * 

Art. 2, § 1,4. "JVb person except a native-born 
citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time 
of the adoption of this Constitution, shall he eligible 
to the office of President ; neither shall any person be 
eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the 
age of thirty -five years, and been fourteen years a resi- 
dent within the United States." 

That the office of President should not be held by 
a foreigner was clear to all the members of the Fed- 
eral Convention. The exception in favor of those who 
were citizens at the time of the adoption of the Consti- 
tution was a compliment t-o those patriotic citizens of 
foreign birth who had deserved well of their adopted 
country. All that class have passed away, and none 
are now eligible to the office of President or Vice- 
President but native-born citizens. 

* Story. 



THE SCIEN"CE OF GOVEEN^MENT. 153 

The qualification as to age was designed to secure 
maturity of character and experience. 

A residence in the country is required, that a 
knowledge of its affairs may be had, and due interest 
in its weKare felt. Both of these might be impaired 
by long residence in a foreign land. It is also a neces- 
sity, that the people may have a full opportunity of 
knowing the character and merits of the candidate. 

A temporary residence abroad in the service of 
the country, as an ambassador or public agent, does 
not interrupt one's residence as a citizen so as to dis- 
qualify him for the office of President. 

Art. 12 of Amendments. 1. '* The electors 
shall meet in their respective States, and vote hy ballot 
for President and Vice-President, one ofivhom, at least, 
shall not ie an inhabitant of the same State with them- 
selves ; they shall ?iame in their ballots the person 
voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the per- 
son voted for as Vice-President j and they shall make 
distinct lists of all the persons voted for as Pi^esident, 
and of all the persons voted for as Vice-President , 
and of the number of votes for each, lohich lists they 
shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat 
of government of the United States, directed to the 
President of the Senate ; the President of the Senate 
shall, in the presence of the Senate and the House of 
Representatives, open all the certificates, and the 
votes shall then be counted; the person having the 



154 THE SCIEl^CE OF GOVERJirMEiTT. 

greatest number of votes for President shall he 
the President, if such niwiber le a majority of the 
tvhole number of electors apjpointed ; and if no 
person have such nfiajority, then, from the persons 
having the highest nmnlers, not exceeding three, 
on the list of those voted for as President, the House 
of Re2:)resentatives shall choose immediately, hy ballot, 
the P7'eside7it. But in choosing the President, the 
votes shall he taken hy States, the representation 
from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this 
purpose shall consist of a member or members from 
tivo-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States 
shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of 
Representatives shall not choose a President, ivhenever 
the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the 
fourth day of March next following, then the Vice- 
President shall act as President, as in case of the death 
or other constitutional disability of the President. 

2. " The perso7i having the greatest 7iumber of 
votes as Vice-President, shall he the Vice-President, 
if such number be a majority of the whole number of 
electors appointed ; and if 7io person have a majority, 
then, from the two highest fiumbers on the list, the Sen- 
ate shall choose the Vice-President; a quortim. for the 
purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole num- 
ber of senators ; a majority of the whole number shall 
he necessary to a choice. 

3. " But no persoyi constitutionally ineligible to the 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVEEUfMEIST. 155 

office of President, shall be eligible to that of Vice- 
President of the United States." 

This is not the mode of choosinof the President 
originally provided by the Constitution, but is the re- 
sult of an amendment adopted in consequence of the 
evils which were found to resnlt from the first mode. 

The original provision was, that two persons 
were to be voted for by the electors, one of whom, 
at least, was not to be an inhabitant of the same State 
with themselves. The one having tlie highest number 
of votes, if a majority of all the votes, was to be Presi- 
dent. If more than one had a majority, and an equal 
number of votes, the House of Eepresentatives was to 
choose one of them for President. When thus choosing 
a President, the House was to vote by States, each State 
having one vote, and a majority of all the States was 
necessary to a choice. 

If no person had a majority of the votes of the 
electors, then, from the five highest on the list, the 
house was to choose a President. 

In every case, after the choice of a President, the 
person having the greatest number of votes of the 
electors was to be Yice-President. If two or more had 
an equal number of votes, the Senate was to choose, by 
ballot, the Yice-President. 

At the first Presidential election, Washing- 
ton was unanimously chosen President, and John 
Adams Yice-President. 



156 THE SCIENCE OF GOVEEKMEN'T. 

At the second election, Washington received 
the votes of all the electors, and Adams a majority. 

At the third election, Adams was elected Presi- 
dent, and Jefferson Vice-President. 

At the fourth election, Jefferson and Burr re- 
ceived a majority of the votes of all the electors, and an 
equal number of votes. The choice devolved upon the 
House of Representatives. After a great many ballot- 
ings, resulting in a tie, Jefferson was at length chosen 
in consequence of some of his opponents' casting blank 
votes. Burr became Vice-President. 

The Constitution was then amended by the adop- 
tion of the mode of choice given above. 

Since then, the choice has once devolved the 
House of Representatives, and the result was in the 
choice of John Quincy Adams. General Jackson was 
one of the candidates, and received the highest num- 
ber of the votes of the electors. Adams was one of the 
three having the highest number of votes, and hence 
was eligible for election by the House. 

Art. 2, § 1,5. ''In case of the removal of the Presi- 
dent from office, or of his death, resignation, or in- 
ability to discharge the poivers and duties of said 
office, the same shall devolve 07i the Vice-President, 
and the Congress m,ay hy latu provide for the case of 
removal, death, resignation, or inability, hoth of the 
President and Vice-P^^esident, declaring what officer 
shall then act as President, and such officer shall act 



THE SCIE]!q^CE OF GOVERI^MEKT. 157 

accordingly, until the disability he removed, or a Presi- 
dent he elected.^' 

The wisdom of this provision is seen in the fact 
that, on three occasions, the President has died in 
office, and his constitutional successor has taken his 
place without the slightest interruption of the affairs 
of goyernment. By the death of President Wm. H. 
Harrison, John Tyler became President ; by the death 
of President Taylor, Millard Pillmore ; and by the 
death of President Lincoln, Andrew Johnson. 

Congress has directed, that, in case of the disability 
both of the President and Vice-President, the Presi- 
dent of the Senate pro tempore, and in case there is no 
president, then the Speaker of the House of Eepre- 
sentatives, shall act as President. 

Art. 2, § 1, 6. " The President shall, at stated 
times, receive for .his services a compensation, ivhich 
shall be neitlier increased nor diminished during the 
period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall 
not receive within that pei'iod any other emolument 
from the United States, or any of tliem.^^ 

This provision renders the President independent 
of Congress. If his salary could be increased, he 
might be tempted to conform to the wishes of the 
house to gain an increase of income. If his salary 
could be diminished, the house might use that power 
to make him subservient. 

The salary of the President remained as fixed by 



158 THE SCIENCE OF GOVEEiq"MEKT. 

the first Congi-ess, at 125,000 a year, until 1873, when 
it was raised to 150,000 a year. 

Art. 2, § 1, 7, 8. '^ Before he enter on the execu- 
tion of his office, he shall take the follozving oath or 
affirmation: ^ I do solemnly swear {or affirm) that 1 
will faithfully execute the office of President of the 
United States, a.nd will, to the test of my aMlity, 
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the 
United States,' " 



CHAPTER XY. 

THE EXECTJTIVB (CONTINUED). 

Art. 2, § 2, 1. "The President shall be 
Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy 

of the United States, and of the militia of the several 
States, lohen called into the actual service of the United 
States ; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the 
principal officer in each of the executive departments, on 
any suhject relating to the duties of their respective 
offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and 
pardons for offences against the United States, except in 
cases of impeachment.^^ 

The military power is that by which the laws, 
if need be, are to be executed, and peace maintained, 
and invasion resisted. It should therefore be under the 
control of the executive. This power does not make 
the President a military despot. He is bound to exer- 
cise it in accordance with the Constitution and laws. 
Failing to do so, he is liable to impeachment, and dis- 
missal from office. 

The heads of departments are the constitutional 



160 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMEIST. 

advisers of the President. Their advice will be given 
under a deeper sense of responsibility, if it be in 
writing, and liable to be published. On all important 
occasions, Washington required the written advice of 
the heads of departments. 

The pardoning power is a consequence of the 
imperfection of law and human nature. A man may 
be convicted of a crime on false testimony. The false- 
hood may be discovered, but the court cannot reverse 
its decision. The pardoning power here comes in, and 
repairs, as far as may be, the injustice of the law, or 
rather of the judicial decision. The pardoning power 
was not given to the executive that he might have 
scope for exercising his tenderness of heart. It was 
given to further the ends of justice. 

The exception to the President's power of pardon 
relates to cases of impeachment. If the President 
could pardon those convicted on impeachment, he 
could make his favorites safe, whatever political of- 
fences they might commit. 

There is also an implied limitation to the pardon- 
ing power, in case of punishment, by each branch of 
the legislature, for contempt of the House and viola- 
tion of its rules. If the President could set at liberty 
one imprisoned for contempt of Congress, they would 
be wholly dependent on his good will for the exercise 
of their powers. 

Art. 2, § 2, 2. '* He shall havepoioeVy hy and with 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 161 

the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, 
"provided two-thirds of the senators present concur ; 
and he shall nominate^ and hy and ivith the advice and 
consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, and 
other public ministers, and consuls, judges of the 
supreme court, and all other officers of the United 
States, whose appointme^its are not herei7i othervnse 
provided for, and ichich shall he established by law ; 
but Congress may by law vest the appointment of 
such inferior officers as they think propter, in the 
President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of 
departments. ' ' 

The power of making treaties is a most im- 
portant power. On its exercise depends in a great 
measure the relation of the country to foreign powers. 
The treaties made by the President, and approved by 
the Senate, become the supreme law of the land. Still, 
this does not give the President and Senate power to 
override the Constitution. A power given by the 
Constitution must be exercised in conformity to it. 

The power to declare war, we have seen, is 
vested in Congress. The power to make peace comes 
under the treaty-making power, and hence belongs to 
the President and Senate. 

The power to make treaties is wisely lodged 
with the President and Senate. The President, having 
a constant eye upon foreign affairs, can more promptly 
meet the demands of emergencies, than a legislative 



163 THE SCIENCE OF QOVERNMEIirT. 

body. Secrecy is also supposed oftentimes to be ne- 
cessary in managing affairs with, foreign nations, and 
secrecy is impossible in a legislative body. Negotia- 
tions can be conducted by the President or Secretary 
of State, without communicating with the public or 
any department till they are finished, when they are 
laid before the Senate. "When a treaty has been ap- 
proved by the Senate, and signed by the President, 
it goes into operation according to the terms therein 
contained. 

The Senate is more suitable than a larger and more 
popular body, to consider the great questions relating 
to the intercourse of nations. The assent of two-thirds 
of the Senate must be given in order to render a treaty 
binding. No basty or unwise measure would be 
likely to receive the solemn assent of two-thirds of a 
body of men of such talents, experience, and integ- 
rity, as are supposed to constitute the Senate. 

The Constitution does not state expressly whether 
the Senate shall be consulted in the formation of trea- 
ties, or simply when the treaty has been formed. 
Washington thought that the executive might re- 
quire the Senate to advise before as well as after the 
formation of a treaty. " Since that period, the Senate 
have been rarely if ever consulted, until after a treaty 
bas been completed, and laid before them for ratifica- 
tion. When so laid before the Senate, that body is in 
the habit of deliberating upon it, as indeed it does 



THE SCIEJ^CE OF GOVERNMENT. 16S 

upon all executiye business, in secret, and with closed 
doors. The Senate may wholly reject the treaty, or 
advise and consent to a ratification of part of the ar- 
ticles, rejecting others, or recommend additional or 
explanatory articles. In the event of a partial ratifi- 
cation, the treaty does not become the law of the land 
until the President and the foreign sovereign have 
each assented to the modifications proposed by the 
Senate." 

• The President is not bound to ratify a treaty when 
approved by the Senate. He may still constitution- 
ally decline to ratify it. 

Suppose the President and Senate make a treaty, 
the execution of which requires a sum of money to be 
drawn from the national treasury. Xo money can be 
drawn from the treasury except by direction of Con- 
gress, that is, the Senate and House of Representatives. 
Are the representatives bound to vote for the appro- 
priation required by the treaty, or may they examine 
the treaty, and withhold the appropriation if they do 
not approve it ? 

It was claimed during the second administration 
of Washington, that the house had a right to with- 
hold the appropriation if it deemed the treaty unwise. 
An earnest debate took place in the house on this sub- 
ject, when the executive called on Congress to fur- 
nish the funds needed to carry into effect the treaty 
made with Great Britain by John Jay, in 1794. Wash« 



164 THE SCIENCE OP GOVERI^MEKT. 

ington held that the Constitution had given to the 
President and Senate the power to make treaties, and 
accordingly he declined to lay before the house docu- 
ments relating to the treaty, which they requested. 

If it is optional with the house to grant or re- 
fuse the appropriations required by a treaty, then 
the President and Senate do not possess power to 
make treaties: but the Constitution gives them this 
power. 

By the Constitution of Great Britain, the king pos- 
sesses power to declare war and make peace. But, as 
we have seen, he cannot carry on war unless the House 
of Commons are ready to furnish the means. He may 
be compelled to make peace whenever the house de- 
sires it. They have nothing to do but to withhold 
supplies, and the war must cease. 

The povrer of appointing to of&ce is vested 
in the President, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate. In Great Britain, the ministers, judges, 
and all high officers are appointed by the king, that is, 
by the ministers acting in his name. 

By the provision of the Constitution requiring the 
consent of the Senate, a restraint is placed upon the 
executive, but not a restraint that will be likely to 
interfere with the efficient exercise of his powers. 
The Senate may prevent the appointment of incom- 
petent or corrupt favorites of the President. They 
will rarely refuse to confirm a man of undoubted 



THE SCIE15"CB OF GOYERJ^'MENT. 165 

ability, integrity, and fitness for the office to which, he 
may be nominated. 

The power to appoint ambassadors implies 
power to appoint diplomatic officers of lower rank. An 
ambassador is a diplomatic officer of the highest rank. 
Xext in order come envoys and ministers plenipoten- 
tiary ; then ministers resident ; and lastly, charges 
d'affaires. There is, however, no essential difference 
between ambassadors and ministers plenipotentiary. 

Consuls are not regarded as diplomatic officers. 
They are "^ commercial agents of the Government, ap- 
pointed and resident in a foreign country, to attend 
to the commercial rights and privileges of their own 
country, and its citizens in such foreign country." 

The Constitution is silent as to the poiuer of re- 
moval from office. It would be natural to conclude 
that the power which appoints to office should have the 
power to remove. But in Washington's administra- 
tion, a majority of Congress were of opinion that the 
power of removal fi'om office rested with the Presi- 
dent alone. At the same time, it was thought that 
the President would be liable to impeachment, if he 
were to remove an officer without due cause. To 
make room for a political partisan, would not have 
been deemed good cause for removal in the days of 
Washington. Removal from office on account of dif- 
ference in political opinions was unknown in the early 
days of the republic. 



166 THE SCIEN^CE OF GOVERJ^^MENT. 

Art. 2, § 2, 3. " The President shall have 
'power to fill ui) all vacancies that may happen during 
the recess of the Senate, hy granting commissions which 
shall expire at the end of their next session." 

This power is necessary to the conduct of public 
affairs. It is not, perhaps, sufficiently well guarded. 
The President may, to all intents and purposes, keep a 
man in office contrary to the advice and consent of the 
Senate. Suppose he removes the Secretary of State, 
and appoints another, in the recess of the Senate. In 
-December, Congress assembles ; but the President 
need not lay the appointment of the Secretary of State 
before the Senate, until just as the session is about to 
expire. The Secretary's commission is good till the 
end of the session. Suppose that, at the end of the 
session, his name is sent to the Senate and is rejected. 
His commission is at an end, but the President may 
decline to fill the vacancy, and may re-appoint him the 
day after the session has closed. His commission is 
then good till the expiration of the next session of the 
Senate. This abuse of this constitutional provision is 
not likely to occur. 

Art. 2, § 3. ^^ He shall, from time to time, give to 
the Congress i7iformation of the state of the Union, 
and recommend to their consideration such measures 
as he may judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on 
extraordiyiary occasions, convene both houses, or either 
of them, and in case of disagreement between them 



THE sciEiq^cE OF govek:n^mekt. 167 

with resided to the time of adjournment, he may 
adjourn them to such time as he shall thinh 'proyer ; 
he shall receive ambassadors and other public minis- 
ters ; he shall take care that the laios he faithfully 
executed, and shall commission all the officers of the 
United States.^' 

It is customary for the President to send a message 
to Congress at the opening of each session, in which 
he recommends such measures, and makes such sugges- 
tions, as he may see fk. The British Parliament is 
opened by a speech from the throne. Washington 
addressed Congress at the opening of the session in a 
speech ; Adams followed his example. Jefferson 
adopted the practice of sending a message, and his 
example has been followed by all his successors. 

It is necessary that the President should have the 
power of calling special sessions of Congress. Events, 
like the firing upon Fort Sumter, may occur in the 
recess of Congress, which may require immediate 
legislative action. 

In monarchical governments, ambassadors, and 
other ministers above the charge d'affaires, are received 
by the sovereign. The President receives ambassadors 
and all other ministers sent to the United States. This 
is not a mere form. Grave consequences may be con- 
nected with the exercise of this power. To receive an 
ambassador is to recognize the country from which 
he comes as belonging to the commonwealth of 



168 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERKMEKT. 

nations. Suppose Ireland were to rebel against the 
British government, and establish a separate govern- 
ment, and send an ambassador to the United States. 
To receive him would be tantamount to recognizing 
Ireland as an independent nation. If the President 
should make such a recognition, the Constitution has 
nowhere said that Congress may repudiate said re- 
cognition. 

The President may refuse to see an ambassador 
or public minister. Should *he do so, his conduct 
would be likely to give offence to the nation whence 
the minister came, but it would not afford any just 
cause of war. According to the law of nations, one 
nation may lawfully refuse to receive the ambassador 
of another nation. 

Art. 2, § 4. " The President, Vice-President, and 
all civil officers of the United States, shall he removed 
from office on im'peachment for, and conviction of trea- 
son, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanor s^ 

'^ All officers of the United States who hold their 
appointments under the National Covernment, whether 
their duties are executive or Judicial, in the highest or 
in the lowest department of the government, with the 
exception of officers in the army and navy, are properly 
civil officers within the meaning of the Constitution, 
and liable to impeachment." 

By the Constitution, im'peachment is confined to 
officers of the government. In England, all the king's 



THE SCIENCE OF goyerx:mext. 169 

subjects may be impeached by the Honse of Commons, 
and tried by the House of Lords, and punished, if 
declared guilty. 

The executire power of the English government is 
vested in the king, who at his coronation is sworn to 
govern the realm " according to the statutes in par- 
liament agreed on, and the laws and customs of the 
same. * ' 

The king appoints his ministers, who perform all 
executive acts in his name, and are responsible to the 
nation. It is a maxim of the English Constitution 
that '* the king can do no wrong ; " but if his ministers 
do wrong, they cannot plead the king's commands in 
justification. 

The ministers are termed the administration. The 
character of the administration depends upon the 
character of the majority of the House of Commons. 
If a majority of the House are whigs, the administra- 
tion will be a whig administration — that is, the king 
wiU send for a leading whig statesman, and tell him 
to form an administration. He selects such men for 
his associates as he thinks best, and they are appointed 
by the king. The person who forms the administra- 
tion is called the Prime Minister, and selects his office, 
commonly that of the first Lord of the Treasury. 

The cabinet, or cabinet council, consists of such of 
the prominent ministers as are more immediately in the 
confidence of the king, who are summoned to consult 



170 THE SCIENCE OE GOVERI^MENT. 

upon executive matters. All the members of the min- 
istry do not belong to the cabinet. 

If, while a whig ministry are in power, the politi- 
cal character of the House of Commons should change, 
and a majority become tories, one of two things 
would take place. The ministers would resign and a 
tory administration would be formed, or parliament 
would be dissolved and a new election held. If, in 
the new parliament, the majority were whigs, the 
ministers would remain in office : if not, they would 
resign. Thus, while the ministers are said to hold 
office at the will of the king, they really hold office at 
the will of the majority in the House of Commons. 
Changes in the administration are consequently more 
frequent in England than in the United States. 

When the English ministers go out of office, they 
are entitled to pensions for life. The retiring pension 
of the Lord Chancellor is 125,000 a year. 

The king is commander-in-chief of the army and 
navy, appoints all military and naval officers, and can 
raise and regulate armies and fleets, provided parlia- 
ment furnish him with the means. He has the sole 
power of erecting courts of judicature, and of appoint- 
ing judges, who hold office during good behavior. 

The Privy Council consists of such persons as the 
king sees fit to appoint. Its dissolution takes place 
six months after the death of the king, unless other- 
wise determined by his successor. 



THE SCIEIs'CE OF GOyER:S'ME]S"T. 171 

The priyy council have power to decide questions 
relating to colonial charters and rights. The appeals 
of the American colonies before the Eeyolution were 
to the king in council — meaning the priyy council. 

Orders in council are orders issued by the king, 
with and by the adyice of the priyy council. These 
orders usually relate to matters connected with 
commerce. 



CHAPTER XYI. 



THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT 



The office of the judiciary department is to 

interpret and apply the laws. Security of person and 
property depends more upon the stability and in- 
tegrity of the judiciary than upon any other depart- 
ment of the government. Where there is no security 
of property, where justice is not administered between 
man and man, the fundamental condition of national 
prosperity is wanting. 

The framers of the Constitution were duly im- 
pressed with the importance of an able and independ- 
ent national judiciary. 

Art. 3, § 1. '^ The judicial power of the United 
States shall he vested in 07ie Supreme Court, and in 
such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to 
time ordain and estaUish. The judges, both of the 
Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices 
during good behavior, and shall at stated times re- 
ceive for their services a compensation, luhich shall not 
he diminished during their c07itinuance in office." 



THE SCIEis"CE OF GOVETlj;rMENT. 173 

The national courts were organized by act of 
Congress, Sept. 24, 1789. The act was drawn up by 
Oliyer Ellsworth, afterwards Chief Justice of the United 
States. Such changes and modifications were made 
from time to time as the increase in population and ter- 
ritory required. The last act of Congress respecting 
the organization of the courts was passed in 1874. 

There are three national courts ; yiz., the Supreme 
Court, the Circuit Courts, and the District Courts. 

The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice 
and eight justices, any six of whom constitute a quorum. 
It holds one term annually, commencing on the second 
Monday in October, at Washington. Except in a 
few cases which will be mentioned hereafter, it is oc- 
cupied in hearing and deciding cases on appeal from 
other courts. As this is the highest judicial tribunal 
known to the Constitution, there is no appeal from its 
decisions. 

The United States are divided into nine judicial 
circuits. For each circuit a judge is appointed. 
They are called Circuit Judges. They reside in their 
respective circuits. The justices of the supreme 
court are required to render certain services in the 
circuit court. They must attend at least one term of 
a circuit court, in every period of two years. 

The first circuit includes Ehode Island, Massachu- 
setts, Xew Hampshire, and Maine. 

The second, Vermont, Connecticut, and New York 



174 THE SCIE]SrCE OF GOVERKMEKT. 

The third, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Dela- 
ware. 

The fourth, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, 
North Carolina, and South Carolina. 

The fifth, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, 
Louisiana, and Texas. 

The sixth, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Ten- 
nessee. 

The seventh, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. 

The eighth, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, 
Kansas, and Arkansas. 

The ninth, California, Oregon, and Nevada. 

The United States are also divided into fifty-seven 
districts, in which district courts are held. To each 
district a district judge is appointed, except that the 
States of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Caro- 
lina, and Tennessee have each one district judge. The 
District Courts are held by the District Judges. 

There is a Supreme Court of the District of Colum- 
bia, with a chief justice and three judges. 

The other officers of the national courts besides the 
judges, are the Attorney-General, the District Attor- 
neys, the Marshals, and the Clerks. 

The Attorney-General is appointed by the 
President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
and is a member of the cabinet. It is his duty to prose- 
cute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court, in 
which the United States are concerned, and to give his 



THE SCIEKCE OF GOYEEXMEiTr. 175 

advice and opinion npon questions of law when re- 
quired by the President, or the heads of the de- 
partments. 

Each judicial district has a district attorney. The 
district attorneys prosecute and conduct all suits in 
the circuit and district courts, in which the United 
States are concerned. They oft^n receive instructions 
from the attorney-general. 

Each judicial district has also a Marshal. His du- 
ties are similar to those of a sheriff. He is to the 
United States courts what the sheriff is to the superior 
State courts. 

'*' A Sheriff is the of&cer to whom all the precepts 
of the superior courts of the several States are always 
directed for execution. In the commencement of civil 
causes, he serves the writ, and in cases requiring it, 
arrests and takes baiL When a cause comes to trial, 
he summons and returns the jury ; and when it is de- 
termined, he sees the judgment of the court carried 
into execution. In criminal matters he also arrests 
and imprisons ; he returns the jury ; he has the cus- 
tody of the delinquent, and he executes the sentence 
of the court, though it extend to death itself."* 

The Clerks are appointed by the judges, the ap- 
pointment being thus vested by a law of Congress. 
The Supreme Court, and each of the district courts, 
has its clerk. The clerk has the custody of the seal and 

* BurrilL 



176 THE SCIEJ^CE OF GOVERI^MEiq^T. 

records of the court, and signs and seals all processes 
and records of the proceedings and judgments of the 
court. He receives the moneys paid into the court, 
and at every regular session exhibits an account of all 
the moneys remaining in court. The clerk of the 
district court is, ex officio, clerk of the circuit court in 
that district. 

The judges of the United States courts are 
appointed by the President, with the consent of the 
Senate, and hold office during good behavior. In re- 
gard to the mode of appointment and the tenure of 
office, there was but one opinion among the framers of 
the Constitution. 

It is asked. Why should not the judges, as well as 
the members of the legislature, be elected by the peo- 
ple ? The reply is, such a course should be pursued 
as will result in securing the most competent and up- 
right judges. Our fathers thought that the President 
and Senate would be better qualified than the mass 
of the people to select men for judges. 

It is desirable that the judges be independent, so 
that they may not be in danger of being biased by 
their interest, in the exercise of their official power. 
To secure this end, the tenure of office is not made to 
depend upon the will of any men in office, nor upon 
the will of the people, but upon the good behavior of 
the judge. If he is faithful to his trust, no earthly 
power can remove him. If he is unfaithful, he may 



THE SCIENCE OE GOYEE2S"3d:EiHT. 177 

be impeached by the House of Eepresentatives, and 
conyicted and remoyed from office by the Senate. 

In monarchical goyernments, if the judge holds 
office at the "will of the monarch, he must, when called 
to giye a decision in which the monarch has an inter- 
est, decide so as to please him, or he may be turned 
out of office. The judges of England formerly held 
office at the will of the king. They were compelled 
to be subseryient to the court, or lose their places. 
England owes much to those judges, who, under such 
circumstances, decided according to law and justice, 
and preferred losing the emoluments of office to de- 
ciding contrary to the right. 

If the judges are elected by the people for a lim- 
ited time, they must please the dominant party, if 
they would secure a reelection. They may thus be as 
subseryient to a party as the judges of England, in 
former days, were to the court. 

It is objected that the tenure of office during good 
behavior has a tendency to make men arbitrary and 
haughty. If the judges make arbitrary decisions, 
they are liable to impeachment. Haughtiness of man- 
ner may not be pleasant ; but a judge of haughty man- 
ners who decides right, is better than a judge of pleas- 
ant manners who decides wrong. 

The compensation of the judges is fixed by Con- 
gress. If it could be diminished during their continu- 
ance in office, they would not be independent of the 
8* 



178 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERKMEKT. 

legislative department. Congress might starve them 
into subserviency. 

Art. 3, § 2, 1. " The judicial power shall ex- 
tend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under 
this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and 
treaties made, or which shall he made, under their au- 
thority / to all cases affecting ambassadors, other pub- 
lic ministers and consuls j to all cases of admiralty 
and maritime jurisdiction y to controversies to which 
the United States shall be a party / to controversies 
between two or m^ore States, between a State and citi- 
zens of another State, between citizens of different 
States, between citizens of the same State claiming lands 
under grants of different States, and between a State 
or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or 
subjects.'*'* 

The judicial power extends to all cases in law 
and equity, arising under the Constitution, laws, and 
treaties of the United States. A case arises, when a 
suit is brought by some party in regular form, the de- 
cision of which involves the interpretation of some pro- 
vision of the Constitution, or of some law, or of some 
treaty. 

Suppose a State should pass an act making bank 
notes a legal tender. A creditor refuses to receive 
them, and brings a suit to recover his debt. The 
debtor claims that he has made a legal tender of bank 
notes. If the case should be decided against the cred- 



THE SCIE^rCE OF GOVERKMEN^T. 179 

itor, lie would appeal to the United States court, and 
the court would pronounce the State law making 
bank notes a legal tender null and void. This would 
furnish an example of a case arising under the Consti- 
tution. 

xigain, suppose a merchant seeks to evade the law 
of Congress relating to revenue. His goods are 
seized and confiscated according to law. This 
would furnish an example of a case arising under 
the laws. 

Again, suppose a treaty existed beween Creat 
Britain and the United States, in which the latter 
engaged to prohibit the exportation of arms to Ireland. 
A citizen of New York is detected shipping arms to 
Ireland. He is arrested and tried by the United 
States court, and punished. This would be a case 
arising under a treaty. 

The Supreme Court has jurisdiction in equity 
as well as law. By equity is meant a system of juris- 
prudence, the object of which is to secure justice when 
it cannot be reached by the courts of law. These 
courts are bound to adliere to the law in their decis- 
ions, though the decisions should be manifestly unjust. 
Equity jurisprudence "is an elaborate system of rules 
and processes, administered in many cases by distinct 
tribunals (termed courts of chancery) and with exclu- 
sive jurisdiction over certain subjects, such as trusts, 
infants, and the specific performance of contracts." 



180 THE SCIE^SrCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

In England, and in many of the States, the courts of 
equity are entirely distinct from the courts of law. 
The Constitution does not provide for distinct equity 
courts, but confers equity powers on the judges of the 
national courts. 

The next clause extends the judicial power '' to all 
cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers 
and consuls." By the law of nations, ambassadors 
are not subject to the laws of the country in which 
they reside. They are subject only to the laws of 
their own country. This is necessary to their in- 
dependence. Their rights, powers, and duties are 
determined by the law of nations, to which all coun- 
tries are alike subject. If any judicial question affect- 
ing an ambassador or other public minister should 
arise, the highest tribunal of the land is the proper 
one to entertain it. 

" The judicial power of the Constitution extends to 
all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction." 
This means that the United States courts shall have 
all the powers usually possessed by courts of admi- 
ralty. Courts of admiralty are those which take cog- 
nizance of questions relating to captures and seizures 
at sea, and all civil and criminal maritime causes. 
Acts done upon the high sea, where all nations claim a 
common right and a common jurisdiction, should 
come exclusively under the cognizance of the national 
courts. Questions relating to prizes in time of war 



THE SCIEi^CE OF GOTERXMENT. 181 

constitute cases in admiralty. Wlien two nations 
are at war, and a yessel of one nation captures a ves- 
sel belonging to the other, the captors are not at lib- 
erty to appropriate the captured vessel and contents 
to their own use. The vessel must be sent into port, 
and the case brought before the court of admiralty. 
If the court decide that she is a lawful prize, she is 
given to the captors. If the decision be that she is 
not a law^ful prize, she is restored to the owners, and 
compensation is ordered for the detention. Vessels 
really belonging to the enemy often claim to belong 
to a neutral nation. It is for the court to decide on 
the validity of the claim. Hence the rights of neu- 
tral nations may be involved in the decision of the 
court of admiralty. As the nation is responsible for 
the decision, it ought to be made by the national 
court. 

'•'The judicial power extends to controversies in 
which the United States shall be a party." By this 
is meant that the United States can bring a suit in the 
United States courts, against individuals, or against 
corporations. A collector fails to pay into the United 
States treasury the money he has collected. The 
United States may bring a suit against him and his 
sureties, and compel payment. This is necessary, that 
the government may protect its rights. 

The judicial power of the Supreme Coart extends 
*' to controversies between two or more States." Two 



182 THE SCIEi^CE OF GOVERIfMEKT. 

or more States may thus carry on a suit before the 
Supreme Court, the one as plaintiff, the other as de- 
fendant. Controversies often arise between States, 
and the Constitution wisely refers them for decision to 
the Supreme Court, 

"Between a State and the citizens of another 
State." This provision authorized individuals in one 
State to bring a suit against another State. A great 
many suits were brought against States by their cred- 
itors, to enforce the payment of their debts or other 
claims. This caused an amendment to the Constitu- 
tion to be adopted, which prevents individuals from 
bringing a suit against a State. The amendment is as 
follows: "The judicial power of the United States 
shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or 
equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the 
United States by citizens of another State, or by citi- 
zens or subjects of any foreign State." 

" Controversies between citizens of different States." 
But for this provision, each State would be " obliged 
to acquiesce in the degree of justice which another 
State might choose to yield to its citizens." I^ow, a 
citizen of New York, having a claim against a 
citizen of Massachusetts, may bring suit either in 
the courts of Massachusetts or in the United States 
courts. 

" Controversies between citizens of the same State, 
claiming land under grant of different States." 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERXMEXT. 183 

The design of this clause is to provide a tribunal 
having no interest on the one side more than on the 
other. Suppose citizens of Ohio claim certain lands. 
The one party claim that the lands were granted 
them by Connecticut, and the other party claim that 
the lands were granted them by Ohio. Both claims 
cannot be valid. The United States court is evidently 
the suitable one to make the decision. 

" Controversies between a State, or citizens thereof, 
and foreign States, citizens, or subjects." 

Questions in which foreigners are parties are liable 
to involve national questions, and hence should be de- 
cided by national tribunals. A decision in the case of 
a foreigner, in which the treaty with his country 
should be disregarded, would be an offence agamst 
that nation. 

A foreign State cannot become a party in a suit in 
any of the United States tribunals, unless it gives its 
consent to the same. 

Foreigners residing in the country have a right to 
sue in the United States courts. In case of war, this 
right is suspended until peace is restored. 

Art. 3, § 2, 2. ^^ In all cases affecting ambassa- 
dors^ other public ministers and eonstils, and those in 
which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall 
have original jurisdiction. In 'all the other cases be- 
fore mentioned J the Supreme Coicrt shall have appellate 
jurisdiction, both as to laio and fact, with such 



184 THE SCIEK^CE OF GOVERKMEl^T. 

exceptions and under such regulations, as Congress 
shall makeP 

It will be observed that there are only a few cases 
in which actions can be commenced in the Supreme 
Court. The principal business of the Supreme Court 
is to review, upon appeal, the decisions of the inferior 
courts. 

Art. 3, § 2, 3. " The trial of all crimes, except 
in cases of impeachment, shall he by jury ^ and such 
trial shall he held in the State where the said crimes 
shall have heeyi committed j hut when not committed 
within any State, the trial shall he at such place 
or places as the Congress may hy law have directed.^'' 

The trial by jury has been enjoyed in England 
from the time the Magna Charta was granted by 
King John. It was brought to this country by our 
fathers, and is rendered doubly secure by this provision 
of the Constitution. 

In cases tried by jury, there are in fact two kinds 
of judges, the permanent and the transient. The per- 
manent consist of the judge or judges belonging to 
the court — men supposed to be learned in the law, and 
possessed of superior talent. The transient are the 
jurors, who are twelve citizens selected for the occa- 
sion. The judge or judges decide all questions of law 
involved in the case. The jurors decide all questions 
of fact. No man can be convicted of a crime unless 
in the judgment of all the jurors he is guilty. Trial 



THE SCIEis^CE OF GOYEEXMENT. 185 

by jury is regarded as the great safeguard of personal 
liberty. 

An additional safeguard against injustice is found 
in the provision requiring the accused to be tried in 
the State where the crime was committed. If a trial 
could be ordered in a distant State, the accused might 
be unable to secure the attendance of the witnesses. 
It may be said that it is not probable that such a 
manifest departure from justice would ever take place ; 
but similar acts of injustice have been perpetrated, and 
it is wise to have safeguards against them. 

We have seen that the Supreme Court has original 
jurisdiction in only a few cases, and that it is chiefly 
employed in the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction. 
" But the exercise of appellate jurisdiction is far from 
being limited by the terms of the Constitution to the 
Supreme Court. There can be no doubt that Con- 
gress may create a succession of inferior tribunals, in 
each of which it may vest appellate as well as original 
jurisdiction. The judicial power is delegated by the 
Constitution in the most general terms, and may, 
therefore, be exercised by Congress, under every va- 
riety of form of appellate or original jurisdiction."* 
Appeals may, in many cases, be made from the State 
courts to the !N'ational courts. The framers and 
friends of the Constitution, pending its adoption by 
the people, admitted that it was the design of the Con- 

* Story. 



186 THE SCIElfCE OF GOVERKMEKT. 

stitution to extend the appellate power to tlie State 
courts. This was made a ground of attack by its 
enemies. 

" It is an historical fact, that the Supreme Court of 
the United States have, from time to time, sustained 
this appellate jurisdiction in a great variety of cases, 
brought from the tribunals of the most important 
States in the Union." 

The power of the National courts to entertain 
appeals from the State courts is necessary to uniform- 
ity of decisions upon all subjects in any way con- 
nected with the Constitution and laws of the United 
States. Different decisions might be made in different 
States, and if there were no revising authority to con- 
trol and " harmonize them into uniformity, the laws, 
treaties, and the Constitution of the United States 
would be different in different States, and might, per- 
haps, never have precisely the same construction, obli- 
gation, or efficiency in any two States." 

The judiciary department of our government has 
commanded the respect and veneration of the country. 
John Jay was the first chief justice. Washington 
offered him his choice of places when organizing the 
government, but intimated his belief that the judiciary 
was his proper place. 

When he resigned in order to become Governor 
of New 5ror.k, Oliver Ellsworth was appointed chief 
justice. On his resigning, in consequence of having 



THE SCIEN^CE OF GOVERNMENT. 187 

been appointed Minister to France, John Marshall of 
Virginia was appointed. He discharged the duties 
of the office for thirty-five years. He ranked among 
the ablest jurists of his time. 

The superior courts of England are the court of 
chancery, and the three common law courts of king's 
bench, common pleas, and exchequer. They are all 
held at Westminster, and are often termed the Courts 
at Westminster. 

The court of chancery is the highest court in the 
kingdom, and is both a court of equity and of common 
law. The equitable jurisdiction embraces the principal 
and most important business of the court. 

" There are, in fact, five superior courts of chancery 
in England, viz : the High Court of Chancery, pre- 
sided over by the Lord High Chancellor of Great 
Britain, to whom an appeal lies from the others ; the 
Court of the Master of the Rolls, who is assistant to 
the Lord Chancellor, when present, and his deputy 
when absent ; and the Court of the Viae- Chancellor 
of England. Two additional vice-chancellors have 
been recently appointed, with powers precisely similar 
to those of the vice-chancellor of England." * 

The king's bench is the highest court of common 
law in England. It consists of a chief justice and four 
associate or puisne justices, as they are termed. " It 
takes cognizance both of criminal and civil causes ; the 

* Burrill. 



188 THE SCIEIfCE OF GOVEEN^MEKT, 

former in what is called tlie crown side or crown office, 
the latter in the plea side of the court. Anciently its 
jurisdiction was confined to criminal matters and 
pleas of the crown, and to civil actions of trespass, but 
it gradually usurped a jurisdiction over all actions 
between subject and subject, except real actions, in 
which it is now confirmed." 

Eeal actions are actions brought for the recovery 
of real property, such as houses and lands. 

The court of common pleas consists of a chief 
justice and four other judges. This court has al- 
ways exercised an exclusive jurisdiction over real 
actions. 

The court of exchequer is inferior in rank to both 
the king^s bench and the common pleas. Its judges 
are termed barons. It consists of a chief baron and 
four associate barons. It was originally intended 
principally to order the revenues of the crown, and to 
recover debts due the king, but it has long possessed 
the character of an ordinary court of justice between 
subject and subject. In fact, nearly all cases between 
plaintiff and defendant may be indiscriminately tried 
in any of the three courts. 

From the court of chancery, and from the courts 
at Westminster, an appeal lies to the House of Lords. 
The House of Lords is thus the highest judicial tri- 
bunal in Great Britain. 



THE SCIE2TCE OF GOYER^^'MEXT. ISO 

The lords, when holding a judicial session, request 
the attendance and advice of the judges of the supe- 
rior courts, and the decisions are commonly made in 
accordance with their adyice and that of the members 
learned in the law. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

TREASON — CITIZENSHIP — ADMISSION OF NEW STATES — ^AMEND- 
MENTS. 

Art. 3, § 3. " Treason against the United States 
shall consist only in levying war against them, or in 
adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and com- 
fort. JVo person shall be convicted of treason, unless 
on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt 
act, or on confession in open court, ''^ 

Treason is regarded as the highest crime that can 
be committed against civil society. In past ages the 
term was a very indeJBnite one. Men have been con- 
victed and punished for treason for a great variety of 
acts. Tyrannical governments have often disposed of 
obnoxious persons, by finding them guilty of treason. 
This occurred so frequently, even in England, that in 
the reign of Edward III. Parliament interfered by 
declaring and defining the different branches of trea- 
son. This clause of the Constitution is taken from 
said act of parliament. It secures every one against 



THE SCIEIfCE 0? GOVERIS'MEKT. 191 

the charge of treason unless he has made war against 
the United States, or assisted their enemies. 

The Constitution also secures to eyery one accused 
of treason a fair trial. No man can be convicted of 
treason on the testimony of one witness, however ex- 
plicit and clear his testimony. Nor can he be con- 
victed on his own confession, unless it be made in 
open court. Confession artfully wrung from him, or 
false testimony respecting confession, cannot harm 
him. Thus careful were our fathers in regard to the 
crime of treason, being led thereunto by the bloody 
records on the pages of history. 

Art. 3, § 3, 2. ''The Congress shall have power 
to declare the punishment of treason / hut no at- 
tainder of treason shall work corruption of blood or 
forfeiture, except during the life of the person at- 
tainted.'^ 

'' The punishment of high treason by the common 
law, as stated by Mr. Justice Blackstone, is as fol- 
lows : 1. That the offender be drawn to the gallows, 
and not be carried or walk, though usually (by con- 
nivance at length ripened into law) a sledge or hurdle 
is allowed, to preserve the offender from the ex- 
treme torment of being dragged on the ground or 
pavement. 2. That he be hanged by the neck and 
cut down alive. 3. That his entrails be taken out 
and burned while he is yet alive. 4. That his head 
be cut off. 5. That his body be divided into four 



192 THE SCIEI^CE OF GOVERNMENT. 

parts. 6. That his head and quarters be at the king's 
disposal. " * 

These refinements in cruelty were in former times 
literally and studiously executed. Our fathers placed 
the power of declaring the punishment of treason 
with Congress. Congress has made the punishment 
to be death by hanging. 

By the common law, corruption of blood and 
forfeiture of property followed conviction of treason. 
The person convicted could not inherit property from 
his ancestors nor transmit it to his heirs. If a man 
was convicted and executed for treason, and then 
his father died, his children could not inherit their 
grandfather's property, for they must claim through 
Their father, whose blood, being corrupted had lost its 
inheritable qualities. To prevent the innocent from 
thus suffering, the Constitution declares that convic- 
tion for treason shall not work corruption of blood or 
forfeiture, except during the life of the person at- 
tainted. 

Art. 4, § 1. ^^ Full faith and credit shall he g wen 
in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial 
proceedings of every other State, and the Congress 
may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which 
such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, 
and the effect thereof, '^^ 

If a case had been tried and decided in a State, 

* Story. 



THE sciExcE OF goterx:mext. 193 

and an attempt should be made to bring tlie same 
matter into court in another State, the party songht 
to be injured would procure the record of the for- 
mer trial, and that would put an end to the proceed- 
ing. 

Art. 4, § 2, 1. '' The citizens of each State shall 
be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citi- 
zens in the several States.'*'* 

The design of the Constitution was to make one 
nation of the States. As all are citizens of the United 
States, they are, for the time being, citizens of that 
State in which they reside. They are, of course, sub- 
ject to the local regulations of said State. If one 
of those regulations be, that one must be a resi- 
dent for six months in order to vote, that regulation 
does not interfere with this provision of the Constitu- 
tion. 

Art. 4, § 2, 2. '' A person charged in any State 
with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from 
justice, and he found in another State, shall, on de- 
mand of the executive authority of the State from 
which he fed, he delivered up, to he removed to the 
State having jurisdiction of the crime.'*^ 

This tends to facilitate the execution of justice, 
and is rendered necessary by that part of the Constitu- 
tion which requires that the accused be tried in the 
State where the crime was committed. 

In regard to foreign nations, the surrender of 
9 



194 THE SCIEI!TCE OF GOVEBKMES"T. 

criminals is often made the subject of treaty stipula- 
tions. 

Art. 4, § 2, 3. "iVb person held to service or 
labor in one State under the laios thereof ^ escaping into 
another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation 
therein, he discharged from such service or labor, but 
shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom 
such service or labor may be due^ 

This relates to fugitive slaves. It requires that 
fugitive slaves be restored to their masters. 

As slavery has ceased to exist in the United States, 
this clause is a dead letter, and discussions growing 
out of it are at an end. 

Art. 4, § 3. " N'ew States may be admitted by 
the Congress itito this Union y but no new State shall 
be formed or erected loithin the jurisdictio7i of any 
other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of 
two or more States or parts of States, without the co7x- 
sent of the legislatures of the States concerned, as well 
as of the Congress^ 

When a new State desires admission to the Union,, 
application is made to Congress. Congress may pre- 
scribe the terms on which the applicant may be re- 
ceived, provided said terms are not in conflict with 
any of the provisions of the Constitution. 

Art. 4, § 3, 2. '^ The Congress shall have power 
to dispose of, and make all needful rules and regulations 
respecting, the territory or other property belonging to 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERXMEXT. 195 

the United States, and nothing in this Comstitution 
shall he so construed as to prejudice any claims of the 
United States or of any particular State^^ 

Under this provision, Congress has erected territo- 
rial governments, which have exercised authority till 
they were superseded by State governments. 

The territorial governments consist of a 
governor appointed by the President and Senate, a le- 
gislature chosen by the people, and judges appointed 
by the President and Senate. These judges are not re- 
garded as belonging to the national judiciary. Their 
term of office expires when the territory becomes a 
State, if they are not sooner removed. The people of 
the territory elect a delegate, who has a seat in the 
House of Eepresentatives, and can take part in debates 
relating to the territory, but is not entitled to a vote. 

Art. 4, § 4. '* The United States shall guaran- 
tee to every State in this Union a republican form of 
government, and shall protect each of them against 
invasion, and on application of the legislature, or of 
the executive {\ohen the legislature cannot he convened), 
against domestic viole?ice.'^ 

This secures to each State, for its protection against 
foreign and domestic foes, the power of the United 
States. 

Art. 5, § 1. "The Congress, tuhenever two-thirds 
of hoth houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose 
amendments to the Co7istitution, or, on the appUca- 



196 THE SCIEI^CE OF GOVERK'MEKT. 

Hon of the legislatures of tivo-thirds of the several 
States, shall call a convention for proposing amend- 
mentSy which in either case shall be valid to all intents 
and purposes, as part of this Constitution, ivhen rati- 
fied hy the legislatures of three fourths of the several 
States, or hy conventions in threefourths thereof, as 
one or the other mode of ratification may he proposed 
hy the Congress, provided that no ameridment which 
may he made prior to the year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight, shall in any manner affect the first 
and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first 
article; and that no State, without its consent, shall 
he deprived of its equal suffer age in the Senate^ 

The Constitution thus provides in two ways for its 
amendment. The first is the one that has hitherto 
been adopted. No amendment was to affect the 
clause relating to the prohibition of the slave trade, 
and the clause relating to a capitation tax. Time, and 
the course of events, have rendered those restrictions 
needless. That forever securing to all the States 
equal suffrage in the Senate, remains. 

Art. 6, § 1. ^^ All dehts contracted, and engage- 
ments entered into, hefore the adoption of this Consti- 
tution, shall he as valid against the United States 
under this Constitution, as under the Confedera- 
tion.''^ 

This is simply affirming a principle of the law of 
nations. 



THE SCIENCE OP GOYEE^s'irEisT. 197 

Art. 6, § 2. ''This Const it utio7i, and tlie Jaws 
of the United States whicli shallle made in pursuance 
thereof, and all treaties made, or ichich shall he made, 
under the authority of the United States, shall le the 
supreme laic of the land; and tJte judges in every 
State shall le hound therehy, any thing i?i the Consti- 
tution or laivs of any State to the contrary notivith- 
standing.'^ 

If this does not express the supremacy of the Con- 
stitution to all State constitutions, laws, and ordi- 
nances, language cannot be so framed as to do it. 

Art. 6, § 3. '^ Tlie senators and representatives 
hefore mentioned, and the m^miers of the several State 
legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, 
hoth of the United States and of the several States, 
shall he hound hy oath or affirmatioii, to support this 
Constitution ; hut no religious test shall ever he re- 
quired as a qualification to any office or puhlic trust 
under tlie United States.''^ 

The State officers are concerned in many ways 
in carrying into eSect the provisions of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, hence it is proper that they 
be bound by oath to support it. Members of Congress, 
executive, or judicial officers, cannot labor to over- 
throw the Constitution and laws of the United States 
without incurring the guilt of perjury. 

Art. 7., '• Tlie ratification of the Conventions of 
nine States shall he sufficient for the estahlishment of 



198 THE SCIEKCE OF GOVERKMEKT. 

this Constitution letween the States so ratifying the 
same." 

it will be recollected that wlien the Constitution 
went into operation, eleven out of the original thir- 
teen States had ratified the Constitution. 



CHAPTER XVm. 



ASfKSDMEXTS, 



Whex tlie Constitution was laid before the people, 
it was objected that it did not contain a bill of rights. 
'*A bill of rights is a written instrument, containing 
a public declaration of certain general rights of the 
people, which are held fundamental to their secuiity 
and protection." 

The true answer to this objection is found m the 
fact that the sole object of the Constitution was to 
provide for and secure the rights of the people. But 
to meet this and other objections, the first Congress 
nnder the Constitution proposed certain amendments, 
which, being ratified by the legislatures of three- 
fourths of the States, became a part of the Constitu- 
tion. These amendments are as follows : 

Art. 1. " Congress shall make no law respecting 
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free 
exercise thereof ; or abridging the freedom of speech 
or of the press ; or ths right of the people peaceably to 



200 THE SCIEJS'CE OF GOVERl^MEJNfT, 

assemble, and to petition the government for a redress 
of grievances," 

The eyils resulting from a connection of the 
State with the Church are well known. The expe- 
rience of some of the colonies, where preference had 
been given to particular denominations, confirmed the 
aversion of the joeople to the union of Church and 
State. Hence they desired to have in the Constitution 
a provision guaranteeing religious freedom. 

Freedom of speech and of the press is essential 
to liberty. It was well to place the matter beyond pos- 
sibility of doubt, by expressly forbidding Congress to 
encroach on freedom of speech or of the press. 

Freedom of speech and of the press may degene- 
rate into licentiousness. This is partially checked 
by laws forbidding slander. Great evils may result 
from the licentiousness of the press, but greater evils 
would follow the power of the government to interfere 
with its freedom. 

There are extravagant and unsound notions current 
in regard to the freedom of the press. Some seem 
to think that it secures impunity in doing every kind of 
wrong that can be perpetrated by means of the press. 
Such freedom, or license, for it cannot properly be 
called freedom, would be incompatible with the 
existence of a free government. An eminent jurist 
has remarked that freedom of the press consists in 
laying no 2)fevious restraints upon publications, and 



THE SCIEiTCE OP GOYEEiTMEiq'T. 201 

not in freedom from censure for criminal matter when 
published. ^^ Every freeman has an undoubted right 
to lay what sentiments he pleases before the public ; 
to forbid this is to destroy the freedom of the press. 
But if he publishes what is Improper, mischievous, or 
illegal, he must take the consequences of his own 
temerity." "To censure tlie licentiousness is to 
maintain the liberty of the press." Chancellor Kent 
remarks : " It has become a constitutional principle in 
this country, that every citizen may freely speak, write, 
and publish his sentiments on all subjects, heing re- 
sp07isihle for the abuse of that right ; and that no law 
can rightfully be passed to restrain or abridge the 
freedom of the press." 

The right of petition is expressly provided for, 
though in a popular government it would seem that 
such a provision could scarcely be necessary. The 
right to petition government implies the right to have 
the petitions received. The refusal of Congress to 
receive petitions respectfully worded and properly 
presented, would be a violation of this clause in the 
Constitution. 

Art. 2. '^ A well-regulated militia heing necessary 
to the security of a free State, the right of the people 
to keep and hear arms shall not he infringed,''^ 

A well-regulated militia supersedes the neces- 
sity of a standing army. The right to keep and bear 
arms gives the people power to resist effectually, if 
9* 



20^ THE SCIENCE OF GOVERKMEN-T. 

need be, the encroacliments of usurpation and arbitrary 
power. To the fact that nearly all the American peopte 
are accustomed to the use of arms, is it in a great 
measure owing that large armies can be organized and 
disciplined in a very short time. 

Art. 3. *' No soldier shall, in time of peace, he 
quartered in any house, without the consent of the 
owner j nor in time of war, iut in a manner to be pre- 
scribed by law." 

This guards against an evil practically unknown in 
this country, but well known in former times, in Great 
Britain and other countries. Many of the most 
valuable provisions of our Constitution are owing to 
the example furnished by Great Britain. 

Art. 4. " The right of the people to he secure in 
their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against un- 
reasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated ; 
and no warrants shall issue, hut upon probable cause, 
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly 
describing the place to be searched, and the person or 
things to be seized." 

This is necessary to that complete personal security 
which every government should furnish to its subjects. 
It was suggested by the practice for a long time com- 
mon in England, of issuing general warrants to arrest 
all persons (without naming them) engaged or sus- 
pected to be engaged in certain transactions. This 
rendered every man liable to arrest. . . 



THE SCIE2sCE OP GOYER^aiEIirr. 203 

Art. 5. " No person shall le held to answer for a 
capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a present- 
ment or indictment of a grxi7id jury, except in ca^es 
arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, 
when in actual service in time of war or puMic danger ; 
nor shall any person he subject for the same offence to 
he twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be 
compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against 
himself ; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of lata ; nor shall private property 
be taken for public use without just compensation," 

A grand jury is a body of men selected in a man- 
ner prescribed by law, and sworn to make inquiry, and 
present all offences against tbe government in the 
district for which they were selected. *'The grand 
jury may consist of any number not less than twelve 
nor more than twenty- tliree ; and twelve at least must 
concur in every accusation. They sit in secret, and 
examine the evidence laid before them by themselves." 
An accusation is laid before them. If they believe it 
to be true, they write on the back of it, " A true bill." 
The party thus accused stands indicted, and may then 
be tried by a court of justice. 

"The indictment must charge the time, and place, 
and nature, and circumstances of the offence, with 
clearness and certainty, so that the party may have 
full notice of the charge, and be able to make his de- 
fence with all reasonable knowledge and ability." 



204 THE SCIEl^rCE OF GOVEENMEKT. 

The exceptions to this provision relate to the proper 
field for the exercise of martial law. 

No person can be twice tried for an offence, pro- 
vided a judgment was rendered in the case. This is 
to prevent one from being arrested and tried a second 
time, when perhaps the witnesses who proved his 
innocence at the former trial are absent or deceased. 
By this provision, it is possible that a guilty man may 
escape punishment, but that is far better than that an 
innocent man should suffer wrong. 

No man can be compelled to bear witness against 
himself. It may seem strange that such a prohibition 
should be deemed necessary. But there have been, 
in former times, in some countries, numerous cases in 
which men were tortured to compel them to bear 
witness against themselves, or to confess themselves 
guilty. 

Art. 6. " In all crimmal jirosecutions, the accused 
shall enjoy the right to a si^eedy public trial hy a7i 
impartial jury of the State or district iuherei7i the 
crime shall have been committed, which district shall 
have bee7i ^jreviously ascertained by laiv ; and to 
he informed of the nature and cause of the accusa- 
tion ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; 
to have compulsory 2^rocess for obtaining witnesses in 
his favor ; and to have the assistance of counsel for his 
dcfence.^^ 

These provisions furnish greater security for per- 



THE SCIEiq"CE OF GOYEEKMEiq-T. 205 

sonal liberty, than is furnislied by the Constitution 
and laws of any other country, England not excepted. 

Art. 7. " In suits at common law, luliere the 
value in controversy shall exceed tioenty dollars, the 
right of trial hy jury shall be preserved, a7ul no fact 
tried ly a jury shall he otherivise reexamined iii any 
court of the United States, than according to the rules 
of the common latu." 

This amendment was designed to define and limit 
the interpretation of that clause in the Constitution 
which declares that " the Supreme Court shall have 
appellate jurisdiction both as to laiu and fact, ^^ 

Art. 8, " Excessive bail shall not he required, 
nor excessive fines he imposed, nor cruel and unusual 
punishment infiicted. " 

The things here forbidden haye often taken place 
in other countries, and human nature is the same in 
all ages. 

Art. 9. '^ Tlie enumeratio7i in the Constitution of 
certain rights shall not he construed to deny or dis- 
parage others retaioied hy the peopled 

Art. 10. ^^ The powers not delegated to the United 
States hy the Constitution, nor prohihited hy it to the 
States, are reserved to the States respectively, ov to the 
people." 

It will be observed that the term " expressly" does 
not precede the term delegated. The second of the 
Articles of Confederation declared that each State re- 



206 THE SCIE:N"CE of GOVERiSMENt. 

tained every power and right not "expressly dele- 
gated to the United States." The consequence was 
that Congress was often obliged to usurp powers that 
it did not j)ossess. 

When this amendment was before Congress, it was 
proposed to insert the word " expressly " before dele- 
gated, but the proposition was rejected. It was seen 
that it was not possible to confine a government to the 
exercise of express powers. The conferring of a power 
to do a thing implies the power to use the necessary 
means. The government must exercise implied pow- 
ers, unless the Constitution should descend to the 
most minute details. 

The design of the amendment was not to abridge 
any of the powers granted under the Constitution, but 
to exclude any interpretation by which other powers 
should be assumed. 

Art. 11, relating to the suability of a State by 
citizens of another State, and Art. 12, relating to the 
mode of choosing the President and Vice-President, 
have already been considered. 

Art. 13, 1. "Neither slavery nor involuntary 
servitude, except as a pu7iis]iment for crime, ivhereof 
the party shall have heen duly convicted, shaU exist 
withi7i the United States, or any place suhject to their 
jurisdiction. 

2. " Congress shall have power io enforce thi^ arii* 
ele by appropriate legislation.'* 



THE sciEis'CE OF goyeexm:ext. 207 

Slavery was abolished by President Lincoln as *'a 
war measure." The thirteenth amendment sanctions 
the act, and renders it impossible for slavery to exist 
in the United States. 

The first section of the fourteenth amendment de- 
clares that all persons born or naturalized in the 
United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, 
are citizens of the United States, and prohibits the 
States from abridging their privileges. 

The second section declares that Eepresentatives 
shall be appointed among the several States according 
to their respective numbers counting the whole number 
of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. 
If the right to vote is denied to any male inhabitants the 
basis of representation is to be projpoi'tionally reduced. 

The third section declares that no person having 
taken an oath to support the Constitution, and having 
participated in the rebellion shaU hold any office under 
the United States, or any State. Congress may, by a 
vote of two-thirds in each House, remove the disability. 

The fourth section renders the debt of the United 
States of constitutional obligation, and declares the 
debts incurred in aid of the rebellion, illegal and void. 

The fifteenth amendment declares, that '' the right 
of citizens of the United States to vote, shall not be de- 
nied nor abridged by the United States, on account of 
race, color, or previous condition of servitude." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE STATES. 

"Wheit the Revolution took place, the royal govern- 
ors, judges, and other officers who remained loyal to 
the king, left the country. The remaining officers, 
and the colonial assemblies, exercised the powers of 
government. New Jersey formed and adopted a con- 
stitution July 2, 1776 — two days before the Declara- 
tion of Independence. It contained a provision by 
which it became null and void in case a reconciliation 
with the mother country took place. 

After the Declaration of Independence, all the 
States formed and adopted constitutions, except Con- 
necticut and Rhode Island. Those States continued 
to use their charters — Connecticut till 1818, and Rhode 
Island till 1842. Of course every thing in the charters 
relating to the king was regarded as null and void. 

Virginia adopted a constitution in 1776 ; Mary- 
land in 1776 ; North Carolina in 1776 ; Delaware in 
1776 ; Pennsylvania in 1776 ; New Jersey in 1776 ; 



THE SOIEKCE Oi' GOVERNMENT. 209 

New York in 1777 ; New Hampshire in 1777 ; Georgia 
in 1777 ; South Carolina in 1778, Massachusetts in 
1780 ; Connecticut in 1818 and Khode Island in 1842. 

All these constitutions have been amended, some 
of them several times. Jefferson thought that a con- 
stitution should be amended every twenty years in 
order to adapt it to the growing wants of the State. 
Erequent changes in a constitution tend to diminish 
the reverence in which it ought to be held. 

The first new State formed after the adoption 
of the Federal Constitution was Vermont. It was 
formed of territory claimed by New York and by New 
Hampshire. It was admitted to the Union in 1791. 
Its present constitution was adopted in 1793. 

Kentucky formed a constitution in 1790, and 
was admitted to the Union in 1792. A second consti- 
tution was formed in 1799, and a third in 1848-50. 

The constitution of Tennessee was adopted 
February, 1796, admitted June, 1796. This State was 
formed from territory ceded to the United States by 
North Carolina. 

The constitution of Ohio was formed in Novem- 
ber, 1802, and she was admitted to the Union Febru- 
ary, 1803. Ohio was formed from the eastern division 
of the Northwest Territory. This Territory was ceded 
to the Congress of the United States in 1784 by Virginia. 
By an ordinance passed by Congress in 1787, slavery 
was forever prohibited in that territory and the States 



210 THE SCIEKCE OF G0VERKME:N"T. 

to be formed from it. The ordinance provided that 
not less than three nor more than five States should be 
formed out of the territory. The prosperous States of 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, were 
formed from that territory. The ordinance which 
forever secured them to freedom, was advocated by 
some of thei most distinguished sons of Virginia, by 
which State, as we have seen, that vast territory was 
ceded to the United States. 

The constitution of Iiouisiana was formed 
January, 1812, and she was admitted to the Union in 
April, 1812. 

This State formed part of the territory purchased 
from France by President Jefferson, for 115,000,000. 
Jefferson acknowledged that the Constitution did not 
authorize the purchase of foreign territory, and intend- 
ed to appeal to the people to make an amendment to 
the Constitution, sanctioning the purchase. There 
was such a general approval of the act, that no such 
amendment was proposed. It was plainly of the 
utmost consequence, that the mouth of the Mississippi, 
the outlet of the Western States, should not be under 
the control of a foreign power. John Quincy Adams 
spoke of the purchase as a " splendid violation of the 
Constitution." 

The purchased territory was divided by Congress 
into the Territory of Orleans and the district of 
Louisiana. The territory of Orleans formed a consti- 



THE SCIE2h"CE GF G0VEK3?"MEJh^T. 211 

tation, and took the name of Louisiana. The district 
of Louisiana was subsequently called Missouri. 

Indiana adopted a constitution in June, 1816, and 
was admitted to the Union in December, 1816. This 
State was formed out of the Xorthwest territory. 

Mississippi adopted a constitution in August, 
1817, and was admitted to the Union in December, 1817. 
This State was formed out of ten-itory ceded to the 
United States by South Carolina and Georgia. It con- 
stituted the western part of the ceded territory. The 
eastern part was then called the Territory of Alabama. 

Illinois adopted a constitution in August, 1818, 
and was admitted to the Union in December, 1818. 
It was formed out of the iN'orthwest territory. 

Alabama adopted a constitution in August, 1819, 
and was admitted to the Union in December, 1819. 

Maine adopted a constitution in October, 1819, 
and was admitted to the Union in March, 1820. It 
had previously formed a part of Massachusetts, and 
was kno^m as the District of Maine. 

Missouri adopted a constitution in July, 1820, 
and was admitted to the Union in March, 1821. 

With the application of this State for admission to 
the Union, began the great struggle to prevent the 
extension of slavery into the new States. The con- 
stitution of Missouri sanctioned slavery. A large 
majority of the members of Congress from the free 
States were opposed to admitting her with that con- 



212 THE SCIENCE OF GOVEUKMEKT. 

stitution. The struggle that took place threatened to 
rend the Union. It was finally settled by a com- 
promise, brought about mainly by the influence of 
Henry Clay. By this compromise, the State was 
admitted as a slaveholding State ; but it was stipulated 
that slavery should never be established in any States 
formed in future from lands lying north of latitude 
36° 30'. This was known as the Missouri Compro- 
mise ; it was repealed in 1854. 

The constitution of Arkansas was adopted in 
January, 183G, and she was admitted to the Union in 
June, 1836. This State was formed out of the terri- 
tory purchased from France. 

Michigan adopted a constitution in 1836, and 
was admitted to the Union in January, 1837. 

Florida adopted a constitution in February, 1839, 
and was admitted to the Union in March, J 845. This 
State was formed out of territory ceded by Spain to 
the United States in 1819. 

Iowa adopted a constitution in December, 1844, 
and was admitted to the Union in March, 1845. 

Texas adopted a constitution in July, 1845, and 
was admitted to the Union in December, 1845. Texas 
was an independent republic formed out of Mexican 
territory by a successful rebellion, 

Wisconsin adopted a constitution in December, 
1846, and was admitted to the Union in March, 1847. 

California adopted a constitution in November 



THE SCIEl^-CE OF GOYERN-MEISTT. 213 

1849, and was admitted to tlie Union in September, 

1850. This State was formed out of part of the terri- 
tory ceded to the United States by Mexico in 1848. 

Minnesota adopted a constitution in November, 
1857, and was admitted to the Union in May, 1858. 

Oregon adopted a constitution in November, 1857, 
and was admitted to the Union in May, 1858. 

Kansas adopted a constitution in October, 1858, 
and was admitted to the Union in January, 1861. 

West Virginia adopted a constitution in April, 
1862. Certain conditions imposed by Congress having 
been complied with, she was admitted in June, 1863. 

Nevada adopted a constitution in 1864, and was 
admitted to the Union in October of the same year. 

Nebraska was admitted to the Union in 1867, 
and Colorado in 1876. 

All the States that have been added to the original 
thirteen had territorial governments previous to their 
admission except Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
Maine. Texas was, as has been stated, an independent 
republic. 

The Constitutions of all the States are similar to 
the Constitution of the United States, and, of course, 
similar to one another. In all, the powers are divided 
into the legislative, the judicial, and the executive. 
The legislative power is vested in two houses, and the 
mode of making laws the same as that pursued by the 
Congress of the United States. 



3^14 THE SCIEIf CE OE GOVERNMEIS'T. 

The executive power is vested in a governor, whoso 
powers are similar to those possessed by the President 
of the United States. He is charged with the execu- 
tion of the laws, and, in most of the States, has a quali- 
fied veto on the acts of the legislature, and power to 
pardon offences against the laws. 

Each State has a judicial system analogous to that 
of the United States, consisting of a .supreme court or 
court of appeals, and inferior courts. 

In nearly all the States, the legislature meets an- 
nually. The members of the lower house are gener- 
ally chosen for one year, and those of the upper house 
for a longer period. 

In the New England States, the governors are 
chosen for one year. In some of the States he is 
chosen for two years, and in some for four years. 

The judges are in some States appointed by the 
governor and senate, in others they are elected by the 
le^slature, and in others they are elected by the 
people. There has been, in the mode of appointment 
and in the tenure of office, a departure from the exam- 
ple of the Constitution of the United States. The 
judges are, in most cases, elected for a term of years. 
In all cases, they can be removed from office by im- 
peachuient, and in some cases by the governor on the 
address of the legislature. 

In some States, there are chancery courts, and in 
others the powers of chancery are vested in the com- 



THE SCIENCE OF G0VERJ5"METs"T. 215 

mon law courts. In some States there are separate 
courts for the trial of criminal cases. In incorporated 
towns and cities, there are usually municipal courts for 
the trial of causes within the incorporated limits. 

The State courts have jurisdiction in all matters 
in which the United States courts have not exclusive 
jurisdiction. It extends over all debts, contracts, and 
crimes, except those which are committed against the 
laws of the United States. In some matters the Na- 
tional and State courts have concurrent jurisdiction. 

The smaller matters of litigation come before a 
class of magistrates termed justices of the peace. 
This office is peculiar to the State government. There 
are generally several justices in each township. In 
some States, they are elected by the people, and in 
others appointed by higher officers. Though their 
jurisdiction is limited, they transact the largest por- 
tion of the judicial business of the country. 

The State constitutions differ in regard to the 
length of residence required in order to be a voter in 
the State. Maine requires a residence of three months, 
Kentucky of two years. 

The State constitutions, while constructed on the 
same general principles as the Constitution of the 
United States, are subordinate to it. The State con- 
stitution defines the powers of the State government. 
The main duty of the State government is to make 
and execute laws required by the peculiar and local 



21 G THE SCIENCE OF GOVERN'MEIS'T. 

interests of each State. It would be almost impossi- 
ble for Congress to make all the laws which are neces- 
sary for the well-being of all the people scattered 
throughout the vast territory of the United States. If 
we examine the statutes of any State, we shall find that 
a large number of them relate to local interests in dif- 
ferent parts of the State. One law relates to a town- 
ship, another to a county. Consider how many town- 
ships and counties there are in the United States, and 
you will see that it would be impossible for Congress 
to attend to those numerous interests. It is therefore 
a wise arrangement by which we have State govern- 
ments to make laws for the States, and a National 
Government to make laws for the nation. 

The State Governments have certain duties to 
perform in relation to the National government. They 
make laws providing for and regulating the election 
of representatives and senators in Congress, and for 
the choice of Presidential electors. They also deter- 
mine the qualifications of the electors for representa- 
tives in Congress. 

All the States are divided into counties except South 
Carolina, which is divided into districts ; and Louisiana, 
which is divided into parishes. In each county, there 
is a county seat where courts are held, and an office 
kept for recording deeds and other legal documents. 

In some of the Sitates, the officers of the county 
possess power to legislate in some matters pertaining 



THE SCIEN'CE OF GOVERETMEIS^T. 217 

to the county. In the State of New York, the board 
of supervisors, elected by the towns, possess certain 
legislative powers. 

The New England States, New York, and some 
other States, are divided into townships, having cer- 
tain political powers. The inhabitants meet annually 
and elect town officers, lay taxes, and make regula- 
tions in regard to local matters. 

The township system has an important influence 
on the political education of the people. Townships 
furnish examples of pure democracies. Tlie people 
meet, and choose officers, and make regulations ; that 
is, enact laws for governing the township. Every 
citizen acts as a legislator. He becomes acquainted, 
to some extent, with tlie forms of transacting public 
business, and with the responsibilities which rest upon 
him as a member of the body politic. 

Where this system does not exist, the people a.re 
seldom brought together as citizens, and do not learn 
to take due interest in public affairs. They are, there- 
fore, liable to be under the control of skillful, unprin- 
cipled leaders. One of the ablest political writers of 
Europe ascribes a large measure of the success of dem- 
ocratic institutions in America to the influence of the 
township system. The system originated in New 
England, It has been adopted by nearly all the 
States. 

The crowded population of a city requires rules 



218 THE SCIEKCE OF G0VEK]S'ME]!5'T. 

and regulations, whicli are not required by the popu- 
lation in rural districts. These regulations are of a 
local nature, and cannot be made by the legislature 
of the State. 

The public improYements made for the benefit of 
the city, must be decided on by the citizens at whose 
expense they are to be made. It would be unjust to 
tax the whole State for grading and paving the streets 
of New York, or for the construction of waterworks 
for the benefit of the city. 

The facilities for crime are much greater in the 
city than in the country. Criminals seek the city, 
and are more numerous there than elsewhere. Hence 
special provisions are necessary for the prevention and 
prompt punishment of crime. 

Hence all large towns have local governments of 
their own. As the State governments are govern- 
ments within and under the government of the United 
States, so the city governments are governments with- 
in and under the government of the State. The 
Legislatures of the States incorporate boroughs and 
cities. To incorporate a city is to give it a charter 
conferring certain specific powers. A charter is to a 
city what a constitution is to a State. It is granted 
by the legislature instead of being formed and adopted 
by tlie people. 

All our large cities are incorporated and thus have 
a city government, in addition to that of the State. 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERXXEXT. 219 

The laws framed by the city goYernment mnst be 
authorized by the charter ; and be conformed to the 
laws of the State, just as the laws of the State must 
be authorized by its constitution, and must be con- 
formed to the laws of the United States. 

The charters of the yarious cities in the Union 
have a general similarity. The executive power is 
vested in the mayor, and the legislative in men chosen 
by the people. They are generally called aldermen, or 
members of the common council. 



CHAPTEK XX. 



INTERNATIONAIi LAW. 



A nation is composed of individuals. Each in- 
dividual is a moral being. In his conduct as a citizen 
he is bound by the law of rectitude. Hence the nation 
is bound by the law of rectitude. 

The nations of the earth must have intercourse with 
one another. That intercourse must be regulated by 
certain rules. The rules that regulate the intercourse 
of nations constitute international law. That law 
should consist of rules prescribed by justice. It does 
consist of the rules that have received the assent of all 
the nations of Christendom. 

International lavr is not the result of legisla- 
tive enactment. There is no international legislature 
to make laws, no international judiciary to interpret 
them, and no international executive to enforce them. 
The usages with respect to national intercourse, recog- 
nized by all Christian nations, form the body of whai 
is termed international law. These laws have no 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERi^^MENT. 221 

specific penalties attached to their violation. They 
are placed under the protection of public opinion. 
The remedy in case of violation is war. 

The following are some of the recognized principles 
or rules of international law : 

''I^ations are equal in respect to each other, and 
entitled to claim equal consideration for their rights, 
whatever may be their relative dimensions or strenjrth. 
or however greatly they may differ in government, 
religion, or manners." Hence no nation has a ri^ht to 
interfere in the domestic concerns of any other nation. 
Each nation may manage its affairs as it pleases, pro- 
vided it does not infringe on the rights of other 
nations. It may change its government for a better 
one or for a worse one, as it pleases. It may cease to 
have commercial intercourse with one nation or with 
all nations, and it may grant to one nation greater 
privileges than it grants to other nations. 

If it pursues a course adapted to injure a nation, 
that nation may take measures to prevent the threat- 
ened injury. If the government of a country should 
outrage humanity in the treatment of its subjects, 
then intervention in behalf of humanity would be law- 
ful. On this principle. Great Britain, France, and 
Eussia interfered in favor of the Greeks against the 
Turks in 1827, arid brought to a close a cruel war, and 
secured the independence of Greece. 

One nation is not to judge as to the legitimacy of 



222 THE SCIENCE OP GOVERN"MEKT. 

the government of another nation. It is bound to 
regard the existing government, the government de 
facto, no matter by what means it came into power, 
as the lawful government. 

Changes that may take place in the government 
of a nation do not affect its relations to other 
nations. Treaties formed with a nation under a 
kingly government remain in force though that king- 
ly government be changed for a democracy. The 
United States borrowed money from the royal govern- 
ment of France. It paid it to the revolutionary 
government. The debt was due, not to the king or to 
the Directory, but to the French nation. 

A nation has exclusive jurisdiction over all its 
territory, including the rivers and lakes lying wholly 
within it, and the adjoining sea to the extent of a 
marine league from the sliore. It has a right to try 
and punish according to its own laws crimes com- 
mitted on its territory, whoever may be the per- 
petrator. 

The open sea is the common property of all na- 
tions. It is the common highway of nations. Each 
nation has exclusive jurisdiction over its vessels on the 
high seas. 

When a river separates two countries, the dividing 
line runs along the centre of the channel. Both 
nations have a right to use its waters for purposes of 
navigation. 



THE SCIEXCE OF GOYEEXltEXT, T2'd 

When a navigable river rises in one country and 
flows tlirougli anotlier in its passage to the sea, tlio 
inhabitants of the upper country have a right to the 
navigation of the river to the sea, under such reguhi- 
tions as may be necessary to the safety of the lower 
country. 

Foreigners resident in a country are snbject to 
its laws. They ai*e entitled to protection, and if, whilo 
permitted to remain, they are oppressed, their native 
country will have to seek redi-css in their behalf. 
They can claim protection and justice, though they 
cannot claim all the privileges of citizens. 

The following persons are not snbject to the laws 
in the land of their temporary sojourn : 

1. Sovereigns and their attendants travelling 
abroad. 2. Ambassadors and the members of their 
suite and family. 

Ambassadors possess immunity from the jurisdic- 
tion both criminal and civil, of the country in which 
they reside. They are representatives of the country 
from which they are sent, and are subject to its laws 
only. Complet-e independence could not be pos- 
sessed, if they were not exempted from all responsi- 
bility to the laws of the country to which they are 
sent, and complete independence is necessary to a 
faithful discharge of their duty. If an ambassador 
should abuse his privileges and commit crimes, the 
government to which he is accredited may demand 



224 THE SCIEirCE or GOYEENMENT, 

his recall, or if the case is urgent, may require him to 
depart within a reasonable time. 

3. Officers and crews of public armed ships in 
foreign ports, while on board their shij^s. If they go 
on shore and violate the laws, they may be arrested 
by the authorities and punished. The crews of mer- 
chant vessels have. no such exemption. 

A government may, if it sees fit, refuse to receive 
an ambassador ; the refusal would not be a just cause 
for war. 

Treaties are made by ambassadors acting under 
instructions from then- government. After the treaty 
has been signed by the ambassadors, it must be ratified 
by the sovereign or the government which he repre- 
sents. The sovereign or government may refuse to 
ratify the treaty, though the ambassador in making it 
may have adhered strictly to his instructions. 

When a treaty has been violated by one of the 
parties, the other party is released from obligation to 
observe it. 

If a nation has been treated unjustly by another 
nation, and redress is refused, resort may be had to war. 
" War" says Chancellor Kent, "is not to be resorted 
to without absolute necessity, nor unless peace would 
be more dangerous and more miserable than war 
itself. An injury to an individual member of a State 
is a just cause of war, if redress be refused ; but a na- 
tion is not bound to go to w^ar on so slight a founda- 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERN^MENT. 225 

tion. for it ma}^ of itself grant indemnity i the 
injured party, and if this cannot be done, yet tha good 
of the whole is to be preferred to the welfare of a 
part. Every milder method of redress is to be tried 
before the nation makes an appeal to arms." 

A formal declaration of war, and notice there- 
of to the enemy before the commencement of hostilities 
is not necessary. After a declaration within its own 
territory, and to its own subjects, a nation may at 
once commence hostilities. 

A state of war renders all commercial inter- 
course between the citizens of the nations at war, un- 
lawful. All trading with the enemy is a crime, unless 
the government has granted the parties a special 
license for so doing. 

In case of an invasion, private persons making 
no resistance are not to be molested, and private prop- 
erty is not to be confiscated. 

The government which declares war can neither 
detain those subjects of the enemy who are in its do- 
minions at the time of the declaration of war, nor 
their effects. They can remain during good beha- 
vior, and retain their property, unless formal notice 
with adequate time, is given them to withdraw their 
persons and property. They must not, however, carry 
on any trade with the hostile country. Permission 
thus to remain is often made the subject of treaty 
stipulation. 



226 THE SCIENCE OF G0VEI12^ME2^T. 

The Supreme Court of the United States has de- 
cided that an enemy's property found in the country 
when war takes place, is liable to confiscation, but 
that a legislative act is necessary before such prop- 
erty can be judicially condemned. No such act has 
ever been passed by the Congress of the United 
States. 

Debts due to the subjects of an enemy, and money 
in the public funds, are by modern usage exempted 
from confiscation. The decision of the Supreme Court 
places them on the same ground as other property. It 
regards them as liable to confiscation by a legislative 
act. 

If a person goes into a foreign country and en- 
gages in trade there, international law regards him as 
a merchant of that country. Hence, in time of war, 
he is subject to the same commercial rules with respect 
to the enemy, to which native born citizens are sub- 
ject. 

An enemy's property at sea is liable to capture 
and confiscation. It may be captured by the national 
ships of war, or by private vessels commissioned by 
the government. 

Property sailing under the flag and pass of an 
enemy, though it be the property of a neutral, is liable 
to be confiscated. 

Property which belongs to one of the belligerents 
at the commencement of a voyage, cannot be trans- 



THE SCXElisCE OF GOTEEXilEXT. 527 

ferred to a neutral during a voyage, so as to protect 
it from capture. ** During peace, a transfer iti transitu 
may be made ; but when war is existing or impending, 
the belligerent rule applies, and the ownership of the 
property is deemed to continue as it was at the time 
of the shipment, until actual delivery." 

Privateering, though authorized by international 
law, is liable to great abuse. In a treaty made be- 
tween the United States and Prussia in 1785, it was 
stipulated that privateering should be abolished be- 
tween the two countries. This treaty expired in 1T99, 
when the arti.^le in regard to privateering w^is not re- 
newed. In 1856, a treaty was formed between France, 
Great Britain, Sardinia, and Turkey, on the one hand, 
and Eussia on the other, Austria and Prussia being 
concurrent parties. These powers united in a declara- 
tion that *• privateering is, and remains abolished." 
Other States were invited to adopt the principles of 
this declaration. The government of the United 
States, through Hon. Wihiam L. Marcy, then Secretary 
of State, answered that it would agi'ee to an arrange- 
ment by which private property at sea should be put 
on the same footing as private property on land — ^that 
is, that private property at sea, unless contraband of 
war, should be exempted from seizure by public armed 
vessels of the enemy, '' With this,'' said Mr. Marcy, 
" we will consent to the placing of privateering under 
the ban of the law of nations." 



328 THE SCIEKCE OF GOVEKXMENT. 

All captured property must be brought into 
port and condemned by a prize court 'sitting in the 
country of the captor, or of an ally, before it can be 
appropriated by the captor. 

If property taken by an enemy is recaptured, it 
does not become the property of the recaptor, but is, 
on certain conditions, restored to the original owner. 

When two or more nations are engaged in war, 
other nations are bound to maintain an impartial 
neutrality. The neutral is not to decide which party 
is in the wrong, and must furnish no aid to one party 
which it is not equally ready to furnish to the other. 
Antecedent engagements with one of the parties may 
be fulfilled, provided those engagements do not re- 
quire the neutral nation to become a party to the 
war. 

Neutral nations may carry on their ordinary 
commerce unmolested, with the exception that they 
must not deal in articles contraband of war. A neutral 
ship may carry goods belonging to the enemy. The 
ship may be interrupted in lier voyage, and the hostile 
property seized. In such cases, neither the ship nor 
the neutral property on board are subject to confisca- 
tion. 

Neutral property found in the vessels of ene- 
mies is not subject to confiscation. The same is true 
of the property of belligerents when within neutral 
jurisdiction. 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVEKJ^MENT. 229 

Neutrals are prohibited from carrying articles con- 
traband of war. All warlike stores and other articles 
directly auxiliary to warlike purposes are contraband 
of war. Provisions are not generally contraband^ but 
may become so "on account of the particular situa- 
tion of the war, or on account of the destination." 

Neutrals are prohibited from trading with ports 
that are under blockade ; an attempt to violate the 
blockade subjects the vessel and cargo to confiscation. 

The blockade must be an actual, not a mere paper 
blockade, that is, a blockade by proclamation and not 
supported by adequate force. A competent force 
must be stationed near or at the entrance of the 
port. 

Neutrals must have due notice of the existence of 
the blockade. The fact of sailing for a blockaded 
port is innocent, unless it be accompanied with knowl- 
edge of the blockade. If, while on her course, the 
vessel is informed of the blockade, an attempt to enter 
it renders her liable to confiscation. Sailing for a 
blockaded port, knowing it to be blockaded, in itself 
constitutes a breach of the blockade. 

Neutral vessels in the port at the time the block- 
ade is declared are allowed to depart with goods pre- 
viously purchased. 

A vessel having violated the blockade is liable to 
capture till the return voyage is at an end. She can- 
not be captured during a second voyage for an offence 



230 THE SCIEIS^CE OF GOVERi^'MENT. 

committed during the first. If a vessel is captured at 
sea, and it subsequently appears that the blockade was 
raised previously to her capture, she is to be dis- 
charged. 

Neutrals are prohibited from carrying hostile de- 
spatches. The penalty for carrying hostile despatches 
is the confiscation of the ship and also of the cargo, 
provided the cargo be the property of the proprietor 
of the ship, or provided the owners of the cargo knew 
and approved of the act of the captain in carrying the 
despatches. 

In time of war, public armed vessels of the bellig- 
erents may visit and search the vessels of neutrals, in 
order to determine whether property or despatches of 
the enemy or contraband goods are on board. This is 
exclusively a war right, and does not exist in times of 
peace. The right of search is confined to merchant 
vessels, and does not extend to public ships of war. 

The right of search exists also with reference to 
the revenue laws of a country. A vessel of a friendly 
State, witl},in Avaters under the jurisdiction of a nation, 
may be boarded and searched on suspicion ot violating 
the revenue laws. If the vessel attempts to escape, 
she may be chased into the high seas, and, if overtaken, 
searched. 

Public vessels may exercise the right of search 
on suspicion of piracy, except in the waters of another 
State. 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERXMEKT. 231 

A truce or armistice is a temporary suspension ol 
the operations of war. "A general truce can be 
made only by tlie sovereign power, or its agents spe- 
cially employed for this purpose. A spec/al or par- 
tial truce may be concluded according to the usage of 
nations by a military officer, even by a subordinate one 
within his district." * During the truce '' nothing can 
be done to the prejudice of either party by the other 
whicli could have been prevented in war." 

A treaty is a contract between two or more na- 
tions. Each nation determines for itself in whose 
hands the treaty-making power shall be placed. 
Treaties, in order to be binding, must be signed by 
tiiose negotiating them, and ratified according to the 
requirements of the respective governments of the 
nations entering into treaty. **A treaty made by a 
minister abroad, when ratified by his sovereign, relates 
back to the time of signing. If one party violates 
the stipulations of a treaty, the other is absolved from 
obligation to observe it. 

*' A treaty of peace leaves every thing in tlie state 
in which it finds it, if there be no express stipulation 
on the subject. If nothing be said in the treaty of 
peace about the conquered country or places, they 
remain with the possessor, and his title cannot after- 
wards be called in question." f 

Piracy is forbidden by the law of nations. Piracy 

* Woolsey. t Kent. 



232 THE SCIENCE or GOVERXMENT. 

is an offence against all nations, and is punishable by 
all. The African slave trade is declared to be piracy 
by the statute laws of England and the United States. 
As all the nations of Christendom have not united in 
declaring it piracy, it is not so regarded by the law of 
nations. 

International law is recognized in the legislation 
of nations. Each nation has laws rendering its viola- 
tion penal. According to Blackstone, it is in England, 
held to be a part of, the law of the land. The United 
States, by acts of Congress and by judicial decisions, 
have endeavored to maintain its obligations. 



CHAPTEE XXL 



DrPPERENT KINDS OF LAW. 



Divine Law is the Avill of God. His will is obli- 
gatory on men as moral beings in whatever way it may 
be made known. It is made known to lis by the ex- 
ercise of our moral faculties and by revelation. This 
law is also termed the moral law, the law of rectitude, 
and the law of nature. All other kinds of law. should 
be conformed to it. Xo law should ever enjoin or 
permit that which is not in accordance with the law 
of God — that which is not risrht. 

Constitutional Iiaw is, as we have seen, a sys- 
tem of fundamental rules for the government of a 
nation, determining the form of the government and 
the extent of its powers. 

International Law, called also the law of na- 
tions, is, as has been stated and illustrated in a former 
chapter, a system of rales assented to by all the 
nations of Christendom for the regulation of their in- 
tercourse in peace and in war. 



234 THE SCIEKCE OP GOVEKXMENT. 

Municipal "havr is a rule of ciyil conduct pre- 
scribed by the supreme power in a State. *^ Municipal 
law is composed of written and unwritten, or of statute 
and common law." 

Statute Law is " the express written will of the 
legislature, rendered authentic by certain prescribed 
forms and ceremonies." 

"The Common Law," says Burrill, is "that 
branch of the law of England which does not owe its 
origin to parliamentary enactment — being a collection 
of customs, rules, and maxims, which have acquired 
the force of law by immemorial usage recognized and 
declared by judicial decisions." 

"A great proportion of the rules and maxims 
which constitute the immense code of the common 
laAv," says Kent, " grew into use by gradual adoption, 
and received from time to time tlie sanction of the 
courts of justice without any legislative a<,*t or inter- 
ference. It was the application of the dictates of 
natural justice and of cultivated reason to particular 
cases." In the just language of Sir Matthew Hale, the 
common law of England is "not the product of the 
wisdom of some one man or society of men in any one 
age, but of the wisdom, counsel, experience, and ob- 
sciwation of many agos of wis3 and observing men." 
" Bat though the great body of the common law con- 
sists of a collection of principles to be found in the 
opinions of sages or deduced from universal and im- 



THE SCIENCE OF GOTERIsMEisT. 235 

memorial usage, and receiving progressively the sanc- 
tion of the courts, it is nevertheless true that the com- 
mon law, so far as it is applicable to our situation and 
government, has been recognized and adopted as one 
entire system by tiic constitutions of Massachusetts, 
Kew York, Xew Jersey, and Maryland. It has been 
assumed by the courts of justice or declared by 
statutes, with like modificatiou, as the law of the land 
in every State. It was imported by our colonial an- 
cestors as far as it was applicable, and sanctioned by 
ro3'al charters and colonial statutes. It is also the es- 
tablished doctrine that English statutes passed before 
the emigration of our ancestors, and applicable to our 
situation, and in amendment of the law, constitute a 
part of the common law of this country." 

The Civil Lavr is the Eoman law as com^Drised in 
the Code, Institutes, Pandects, and ]S"ovels of Justinian 
and his successors. 

^•The Code, in twelve books, is a collection of all 
the imperial statutes that were thought worth preserv- 
ing from Hadrian to Justinian." 

The Institutes or elements of Roman law, in 
four books, contain the fundamental principles of the 
ancient law in a small body, for the use and benefit of 
students at law. 

The Pandects are an abridgment, in fifty books, 
of the decisions of praetors and the writings and 
opinions of the ancient sages in the law. This work 



236 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 

is supposed to contain the embodied wisdom of the 
Eoman people in civil jurisprudence for nearly twelve 
hundred years. 

The Novels of Justinian are a collection of impe- 
rial statutes passed subsequent to the date of the Code, 
and intended to supply the omissions and correct the 
errors of the preceding publications. ''The great 
body of the Roman or civil law/' says Kent, " was 
collected and digested by order of the Emperor 
Justinian in the former part of the sixth century. 
That compilation has come down to modern times, 
and the institutions of every part of Europe have 
felt its inJluence, and it has contributed largely by the 
richness of its materials to their character and im- 
provement. With most of the European nations and 
in the new States in Spanish America, in the province 
of Lower Canada, and in one of the United States 
[Louisiana] it constitutes the principal basis of their 
unwritten or common law. It exerts a very consider- 
able influence upon our own municipal law, and par- 
ticularly on those branches of it which are of equity 
and admiralty jurisdiction, or fall within the cogni- 
zance of the surrogates' or consistorial courts."' 

"The history of the venerable system of the civil 
law is peculiarly interesting. It was created and 
gradually matured on the banks of the Tiber by the 
successive wisdom of Roman statesmen, magistrates, 
and sages, and after governing the greatest people of 



THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. 237 

the ancient world for the space of thirteen or fourteen 
centuries, and undergoing extraordinary vicissitudes 
after the fall of the AVestern Empire, it was revived, 
admired, and studied in modern Europe on account of 
the variety and excellence of its general principles. 
It is now taught and obeyed not only in France, 
Spain, Germany, Holland, and Scotland, but in the 
islands of the Indian Ocean and on the banks of the 
Mississippi and the St. Lawrence. So true, it seems, 
are the words of D'Aguesseau, that " the grand desti- 
nies of Rome are not yet accompHshed ; she reigns 
throughout the world by her reason, after having ceased 
to reign by her authority." 

" The Canon Law is a collection of ordinances 
for the regulation of the polity and discipline of the 
Church of Kome, consisting for the most part of or- 
dinances of general and provincial councils, decrees 
promulgated by the popes with the sanction of the 
cardinals, and decretal epistles and bulls of the 
popes."* 

By a statute of Henry YIII. , a portion of the canon 
law has authority in England. This, together with 
other portions of the ecclesiastical law of England, is 
administered by the ecclesiastical courts* There are 
four ecclesiastical courts in England ; an appeal lies 
from them to the Privy Council. There are no eccle- 
siastical law courts in the United States. 

*Burrill. 



238 THE SCIEiq'CE OF GOVERNMENT. 

Military Lavr is a system of rules for the goTern- 
ment of an army. Martial law is the will of the mili- 
tary commander. When proclaimed in any place, it 
becomes the supreme law. The civil authority and 
ordinary administration of the law are either wholly 
suspended or subjected to military power. Military 
and martial law are administered by Courts Martial. 

Parliamentary Law is a system of rules for 
regulating the proceedings of legislative and other de- 
liberative bodies. These rules were originally derived 
from the usages of the British Parliament, and have 
been, with some modifications, adopted by Congress 
and the State legislatures, and, so far as they are ap- 
plicable, by all public assemblies. 

" The American or English I'eader," says Lieber, 
"brought up, almost from early youth, in an acquaint- 
ance with, and in many respects even under the influ- 
ence of the parliamentary law and usage — for it ex- 
tends to our very schools — considers many things 
most natural and hardly worth reflection, which never- 
theless required ages to become acknowledged, and 
for want of which civil liberty or the expediting of 
common business could not prosper. All usages and 
laws which relate to debating are of essential im- 
portance to liberty itself, and they must be considered 
as one of the safeguards of liberty which we possess 
in advance of the ancients. * * * r^j^^ whole first 
French Revolution is one continued melancholy in- 



THE SCIENCE OE GOTEEXME^TT. 239 

stance of the Trant of this laT7 and usage. For a 
whole week the members wonld debate and inflame 
one another without having even so much as a question 
before the house." 

Dumont, the editor of Bentham's works, relates 
an instructive anecdote : 

" These primary assemblies (to elect deputies) 
were at a loss how to organize themselves and to 
make an election. During breakfast at Montreuil-sur- 
mer, our landlord gave us. an account of the tumult 
and embarrassment of their meetings ; two or three 
hours had been lost already in palavering and disor- 
der ; a president, a secretary, ballots, or votes, count- 
ing the votos — all this was unknown. Dumont and 
his friends, in mere joke, drew np some regulations. 
The host, delighted, took them, and when Dumont 
arrived at Paris, the papers bestowed much praise on 
the commune of Montreuil on account of the greater 
order with which the election had been carried on 
than anywhere else 1" 



CHAPTER XXII. 



PAKLIAMENTARY RULES. 



Ik every deliberative assembly, rules are necessary 
for the preservation of order and the dispatch of busi- 
ness. In legislative bodies, rules are especially impor- 
tant to prevent hasty legislation, and to prevent the 
majority from trespassing on the rights of the minority. 

Every assembly is at liberty to adopt its own rules 
of proceeding subject to its constitution, if it have one ; 
but the same rules, so far as they are applicable in each 
case, have been very generally adopted by parliament- 
ary bodies. 

It is the daty of the presiding officer to preserve 
order. He is to decide upon the propriety of motions 
and upon the order of business. All persons speaking 
must address him and not the house. If two or more 
persons rise at the same time, he is to designate the 
one who shall speak. 

Appeals from his decisions may be made to the 
house, who may sustain or may over-rule his decisions. 



THE SCIEXCE OP GOVERXME^s'T. 241 

Bills may be introduced by a member ''on leave," 
of which one day's notice must be given, and by report 
of a committee. 

Every bill must be read three times previous to its 
]oassage. No bill can be twice read on the same day 
without special order of the house. In most cases, 
this special order is assumed, and unless objection is 
made, immediately after the bill is read the first time, 
the speaker announces " the second reading of the 
bill." Usually only the title of the bill is read, the 
reading throughout taking place in the committee of 
the whole. 

A large part of the business of legislative bodies is 
done by committees. They consider and prepare 
measures for the action of the house. There are stand- 
ing committees, and committees appointed for a partic- 
ular purpose. Committees are usually appointed by 
the presiding officer ; yet the house has power to deter- 
mine the mode of appointment. 

A committee has power to elect one of its number 
as chairman ; but the person first named on the com- 
mittee usually acts as chairman. 

Committees report to the house. Their action has 
no authority till sanctioned by the house. 

Sometimes the house resolves itself by vote into a 
committee of the whole. When the vote has passed, 
the speaker leaves the chair, and requests some mem- 
ber to take it. The object of going into the commit- 



242 THE SCIEN'CE OF GOVEKS'MEIJ'T. 

tee of the whole is to allow greater freedom of debate 
on the subject under consideration. The rules which 
limit debate in the house, do not apply to the Com- 
mittee of the Whole. 

When the committee has discussed the bill, a mem- 
ber moves that the committee rise. The speaker then 
resumes the chair, and the chairman of the committee 
reports to him what the committee has done. If the 
subject has not been fully considered, the committee, 
by the chairman, "reports progress." If the subject 
has been fully considered, and is ready for a vote, the 
fact is reported to the speaker, who may at once cause 
the vote to be taken. 

When a bill is introduced and the house is then 
willing to discuss it, the mover has the right to address 
the house first. 

The house may limit each speaker to a certain 
time, and that time may be extended only by the 
unanimous consent of the house. 

A motion must be seconded before it can be put. 
If the speaker or any member desire it, it must be 
reduced to writing. A motion may be withdrawn at 
any time before a decision or amendment, provided 
the previous question has not been seconded. 

There is a certain order of precedence in regard to 
motions. When a question is under debate, no motion 
can be received but a motion to adjourn, to lay on the 
table, for the previous question, to postpone to a 



THE SCIENCE OF GOTERXMEXT. 243 

certain day, to commit or amend, and to postpone 
indefinitely. A motion that is not made in accordance 
with this rule, or not made at the proper stage of 
the matter under consideration, is said to be oat of 
order, and ^^'ill not be pnt by tlie presiding officer. 

A motion to adjonrn is said always to be in order; 
but it cannot be made while a member is speaking, or 
when a question has been put and the house is engaged 
in voting. A motion to adjourn may be repeated 
after some intervening business has been transacted. 

A motion to adjourn cannot be amended by adding 
a particular day, and it is not debatable. 

A motion to fix the day to which the house shall 
adjourn takes precedence of the motion to adjourn. 
It must be decided without debate. 

When a question is under debate, the motion to 
lay on the table takes precedence of every other mo- 
tion except the motion to adjourn. A motion to lay 
on the table must be decided without debate. When 
a bill is laid on the table it is rarely taken up again 
during the session. It is usually a mild method of 
rejecting a bill. 

When an amendment is ordered to lie on the table, 
the subject proposed to be amended goes to the table 
with it. 

When the motion to lay on the table has been 
made and negatived, and no change has been made in 
the bill, the motion cannot be repeated. 



244 THE SCIENCE OF gover:n-ment. 

When the previous question is moyed and seconded, 
it is put in this form : '^ Shall the main question be 
now put ? " If a majority of those present vote in the 
affirmative, the presiding officer brings before the house 
the several amendments to the question, if there be 
any, and then the question itself. The previous ques- 
tion puts an end to debate. The motion for the pre- 
vious question is not debatable. 

A motion to postpone to a certain day cannot be 
made a second time on the same day, and at the same 
stage of the bill. When a bill is postponed to a cer- 
tain day, it is entitled to be taken up on that day. 

When a question is postponed indefinitely, it can- 
not be acted on again during the session. 

When a question is under debate, a motion may 
be made to refer it to some committee. A motion to 
commit may be amended by adding instructions, and 
by striking out one committee and inserting another. 

On a motion to commit, the whole question is open 
to debate. 

When an amendment to a bill is moved, if the mem- 
ber who introduced the bill accept tlie proposed amend- 
ment, it becomes a part of the bill. If he does not 
accept it, the house votes on it before it votes on the 
bill. 

After a proposition has been amended by vote of 
the house, it cannot be withdrawn, nor after the pre- 
vious question is seconded. 



THE SCIEKCE OF QOVERiTME:N"T. 245 

" On an amendment being moved, a member who 
has spoken to the main question, may speak again to 
the amendment." 

"A motion to strike out the enacting words of a 
bill, takes precedence of a motion to amend." 

When a question has been voted on and decided, 
any member who voted with the majority, may move 
the reconsideration of the question on the same or the 
succeeding day. 

This motion takes precedence of all motions except 
that for adjournment. 

*^ AVhen a motion to reconsider has been put and 
decided, it is not in order to repeat the motion." 

" When a motion to reconsider has been passed in 
the affirmative, the question immediately recurs upon, 
the question reconsidered." 

'^ The previous question may be reconsidered, but 
not after it is partly executed." 

" A motion to reconsider is not debatable, if the 
question proposed to be reconsidered was not debata- 
ble."* 

* The student is referred to Barclay's Digest of the Rules 
of the House of Kepresentatives, etc. 



THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION. 



We have considered, on page 218, the causes which led 
to the formation of the National Constitution, in 
1787 ; its adoption by the people of the United States as 
the organic law of the land, and the establishment of a 
National Government in accordance with its plan. Let 
us now take it up and study it carefully, for it is the Great 
Charter of our Liberties. We will begin with the 
introductory remarks, or 

PREAMBLE. 

We the People of the United States, in order to form a 
more perfect union, establish justice, in- 
Objecis. sure domestic tranquillity, provide for the 

common defence, promote the general wel- 
fare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our 
posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for 
the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I. 

SECTION I. 

All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a 
Congress of the United States, which i^egisiative powei-s. 
shall consist of a senate and house of representatives. 



THE XATIOXjLL coxsTiTmoy. 247 

SECTION n. 

l5^ Clause. — ^The House of Representatives shall be com- 
posed of members chosen every second year 
by the people of the several States, and °"^^ ^: ^. ^^'^' 

J r r ' seniaitves. 

the electors in each State shall have the 

quahfications requisite for electors of the most numerous 

branch of the State legislature. 

2d Clause. — Xo person shall be a representative who 
shall not have attained to the age of twen- 

. n 3 1 'j.' Qualification of 

tv-nve vears, and been seven vears a citi- ^ , . ■ 

zen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of the State in which he 
shall be chosen. 

3fZ Clause. — ^Representatives and direct taxes shall be 
apportioned among the several States 
which mav be iucluded within this Union, " ff^^' tonme of 

" Hepreseniatives^ 

according to their respective numbers, 
which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of 
free persons, including those bound to service for a term of 
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all 
other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within 
three years after the first m.eeting of the Congress of the 
United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, 
in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of 
representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thou- 
sand, but each State shall have at least one representative ; 
and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of Js^ew 
Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Jlassachu- 
setts eight, Rhode Island and Providen<ie Flantations 
one, Connecticut five, Xew York six, Xeiv Jersey fom-, 



248 THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION. 

Pennsylvania eight, Delaivare one, Maryland six,Fi7'- 

ginia ten, Jforth Carolina five, South Carolina five, and 

Georgia three. 

4:th Clause. — When vacancies happen in the represent a- 

Tacancies, hov/ tion from any State, the executive author- 

faiad. ity thereof shall issue writs of election to 

fill such vacancies. 

Mh Clause. — The House of Representatives shall choose 
Speaker, ho7y their Speaker and other officers ; and shall 
apvoinied. have the sole power of impeachment. 

SECTIOI!^' ni. 

\st Clause. — ^The Senate of the United States shall be 
composed of two senators from each State, jv'umher of Senators 
chosen by the legislature thereof, for six P'^^ ^^^^* state, 
years ; and each senator shall have one vote. 

2c7 Clause, — Immediately after they shall be assembled in 
consequence of the first election^ they shall 

, T-T-, Ti I'^ii, Classification of 

be divided as equally as may be into three r^ , 

^ J J Senators. 

classes. The seats of the senators of the 
first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second 
year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, 
and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so 
that one-third may be chosen every second year ; and if 
vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the 
recess of the legislature of any State, the executive thereof 
may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of 
Jie legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 

Zd Clause. — No person shall be a senator who shall not 
iave attained to the age of thirty years, 



THE NATIOXAL COXSTITUTIOX. 249 

and been nine years a citizen of the United ^''^^'^^^^^'"'^ ^/ 

States, and who shall not, when elected, 

be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

4.th Clause. — The Vice-President of the Uivited States 
shall be jDresident of the Senate, bnt shall Tresidina officer 
have no vote, unless they be equally di- ^/ ^^« Senate. 
Tided. 

hth Clause. — The Senate shall choose their other officers, 
and also a president pro tempore^ in the absence of the Vice- 
President, or when he shall exercise the office of President 
of the United States. 

6th Clause. — The Senate shall have the sole power to try 
all impeachments : When sitting: for that 

Senate y a court fof ^ ^ 

triai of impeach- purpose, they shall be on oath or affirma- 
tion. When the President of the United 
States is tried, the chief -justice shall preside : and no per- 
son shall be conxdcted without the concurrence of two-thirds 
of the members present. 

Ith Clause. — Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not 

extend further than to removal from office, 

jajmentincase ^^^ disqualification to hold and enjov any 

of Conviction. ^ .1 .. ./ 

office of honor, trust or profit under the 
United States : but the party convicted shall nevertheless 
be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and pun- 
ishment, according to law. 

SECTIONS- IT. 

\st Clause. — The times, places, and manner of holding 
elections for senators and representatives, 

Elections of Sena- . , . i o t, v 

tors and ^epre- shall be prescnbcd m each btate by the 
seniaiives. legislature thereof ; but the Congress may 



250 THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION. 

at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except 
as to the places of choosing senators. 

2^ Clause. — The Congress shall assemble at least once in 
every year, and such meeting shall be on Meeting of Con- 
the first Monday in December, unless they gress. 

shall by law appoint a different day. 

SECTION V. 

\8t. Clause. — Each house shall be the judge of the elections, 
returns, and quahfications of its own mem- 
bers, and a majority of each shall consti- ^^"eTi^ress 
tute a quorum to do business ; but a 
smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be 
authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in 
such manner and under such penalties as each house may 
provide. 

2c? Clause. — Each house may determine the rules of its 
proceedings, punish its members for dis- Utiles of proceed- 
orderly behavior, and, with the concur- *''^- 

rence of two-thirds, expel a member. 

Zd Clause. — Each house shall keep a journal of its pro- 
ceedings, and from time to time publish the 

, , • ^x. • Jonrnal of Con- 

same, excepting such parts as may in tneir o-^.g^ ^ 

judgment require secrecy, and the yeas and 

nays of the members of either house on any question shall, 

at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the 

journal. 

Atli Clause. — l^either house, during the session of Con- 

sidjournmeni of gress, shall, without the consent of the 

Congress. other, adjourn for more than three days, 



THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION, 251 

nor to any other place than that in which the two houses 
shall be sitting. 

SECnOX TL 

1st Clause, — The senators and representatives shall receive 
a compensation for their services, to be as- 

Compensalion _ ^ 

and priviieffes of certained bylaw, and paid out of the treas- 
ury of the United States. They shall in 
all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be 
privileged from an-est dming theu* attendance at the session 
of their respective houses, and in going to and returning 
from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either house, 
they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

2d Clause. — Iso senator or representative shall, during the 
time for which he was elected, be appointed 

i^liiralUy of offices , ' '^ na t^i ,i. i> 

ro/iibiied ^^^ ^^ omce under the authority of 

the United States, which shall have been 
created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been in- 
creased during such time ; and no person holding any office 
under the United States, shall be a member of either house 
during his continuance in office. 

SECTioiN vn. 

l5^ Clause. — All bills for raising revenue shall originate in 
the House of Representatives ; but the ^.^^^ ^^^ ^.. .^ 
Senate may propose or concur- with amend- «^«<=?- 

ments as on other bills. 

2d Clause. — Every bill which shall have passed the House 
of Representatives and the Senate, shall, ^^^ ^///^ become 
before it become a law, be presented to the ^^'^'*' 

President of the United States. If he approve he shall sign 



252 THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION. 

it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections, to that 
house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the 
objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider 
it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house 
shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the 
objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be 
reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it 
shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both 
houses shall be deteraiined by yeas and nays ; and the names 
of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered 
on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall 
not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays 
excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same 
shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in 
which case it shall not be a law. 

Zd Clause. — Every order, resolution, or vote to which the 

concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may 

be necessary (except on a question of ad- 

Ap2'>7'oval and veto ^ ./ v j. x 

2}07i'ers of ihe Ji^rei-- joummeut) shall be presented to the Presi- 
dent of the United States ; and before the 
same shall take effect shall be approved by him, or being dis- 
approved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the 
Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules 
and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

SECTION VIII. 

1st Clause. — The Congress shall have power to lay and col- 

s^ofyers vested in ^®^^ taxes, dutics, imposts and excises, to 

Congress. pay the debts and provide for the common 



TEE XATIOyAL COySTITUTION. 253 

defence and general weKare of tlie United States ; but all 
duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throu2:hout the 
United States ; 

2.C? Clause. — To bon-ow money on the credit of the United 
States ; 

^d Clause. — To regulate commerce with foreign nations, 
and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes ; 

4:th Clause. — To estabhsh an uniform rule of naturalization, 
and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout 
the United States ; 

oth Clause. — To coin money, regulate the value thereof, 
and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and 
measures ; 

Qth Clause. — To provide for the punishment of counter- 
feiting the securities and current coin of the United States ; 

Kth Clause. — To establish post-offices and post-roads ; 

^th Clause. — To promote the progress of science and use- 
ful arts, by securing for limited times, to authors and inven- 
tors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and dis- 
coveries ; 

Qt?t Clause. — ^To constitute tribunals inferior to the Su- 
preme Court ; 

10th Clause. — To define and punish piracies and felonies 
committed on the high seas, and ofiences against the law of 
nations ; 

11th Clause. — To declare war, grant letters of marque and 
reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and 
water ; 

12th Clause. — To raise and support armies, but no appro- 
priation of money to that' use shall be for a longer teim than 
two veai's ; 



254 THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION, 

l^th Clause. — =To provide and maintain a navy ; 

14:th Clause. — To make rules for the government and regu- 
lation of the land and naval forces ; 

l^th Clause. — To provide for calling forth the militia to 
execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and 
repel invasions ; 

IQth Clause. — To provide for organizing, arming, and dis- 
ciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as 
may be employed in the service of the United States, re- 
serving to the States respectively, the appointment of the 
officers, and the authority of training the militia according 
to the discipline prescribed by Congress ; 

VKth Clause. — To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases 
whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles 
square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the 
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government 
of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all 
places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the 
State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, 
magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings ; 
— ^And 

18^A Clause. — ^To make all laws which shall be necessary 
and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, 
and all other powers vested by this constitution in the gov- 
ernment of the United States, or in any department or 
officer thereof. 

SECTION IX. 

Xst Clause. — The migration or importation of such persons 



THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION. 255 

as any of the States now existing shall 

Initnigranis, how ,-, • ^ n . , ,, , 

think proper to admit, shall not be pro- 
hibited by the Congress prior to the year 
one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may 
be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars 
for each person. 

2d Clause. — The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus 
shall not be suspended, unless when in 

(. -I ^^' • • 1 -, -,. Sabeas Corjjus. 

cases 01 rebellion or mvasion the public 
safety may require it. 

3c? Clause. — No bill of attainder or ex 

- , 1 n 1 T siiiainder. 

post facto law shall be passed. 

4^A Clause. — No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, 
unless in proportion to the census or enu- 

Saxes. 

meration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 

^th Clause. — No tax or 4uty shall be laid on articles ex- 
ported from any State. 

Qth Clause. — No preference shall be given by any regula- 
tion of commerce or revenue to the ports 
or one State over those of another : nor . , , . 

zng duties. 

shall vessels bound to, or from, one State, 

be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 

1th Clause.- — No money shall be drawn from the treasury, 
but in consequence of appropriations made 

Moneys ^^^ drawn. 

by law ; and a regular statement and ac- 
count of the receipts and expenditui-es of all public money 
shall be published from time to time. 

8^A Clause. — No title of nobility shall be granted by the 
United States: And no person holding 

rules of nobility ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ them 

prohibited. '' 

shall, without the consent of the Congress, 



256 THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION. 

accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind 
whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. 

SECTION X. 

1st Clause. — No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, 
or confederation ; grant letters of marque 
owe7sot aes ^_^^ reprisal; coin money; emit bills oi 
credit ; make anything but gold and silver 
coin a tender in payments of debts ; pass any bill of attain- 
der, ex post facto law, or law impairiug the obligation oi 
contracts, or grant any title of nobility. 

2d Clause. — l^o State shall, without the consent of the 
Congress, lay any impost or duties on imports or exports, 
except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its 
inspection laws ; and the net produce of all duties and im- 
posts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be foi 
the use of the treasury of the United States ; and all suet 
laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Con- 
gress. 

Zd Clause. — No State shall, without the consent of Con- 
gress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships-of-wai 
in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact witt 
another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, 
unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will 
not admit of delay. 



ARTICLE II. 

SECTION I. 

1st Clause. — The executive power shall be vested in a 



THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION 257 

President of the United States of Ainer- 

ica. He shaU hold his office during the ^-^^^f ^"^^ ^^«'^'*' 

'=' Zfz lyhom vested. 

term of four years, and, together with the 

Yice-President, chosen for the same term, be elected as 

follows : 

2c? Clause. — Each State shall appoint, in such manner as 
the legislature thereof may dii*ect, a num- 

T (> \ J. i^^t, ^ ^ Presidential eieei- 

ber 01 electors, equal to the whole num- 

ber of senators and representatives to 

which the State may be entitled in the Congress : but no 

senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust 

or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an 

elector. 

3^ Clause. — The Congress may determine the time of 

choosing the electors, and the day on 

one of c oosing ^y^(^ they shall ffive then- votes ; which 

eiecio7'S. j o :' 

day shall be the same throughout the 

United States. 

Ath Clause. — ^Xo person except a natural born citizen, or a 

citizen of the United States at the time of 

Quaiificaiions of ^^^ adoption of this Constitution, shall be 

the 'l^resideni. ^ 

eligible to the office of President ; neither 
shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have 
attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fomteen 
years resident within the United States. 

^th Clause. — In the case of the removal of the President 

from office, or of his death, resignation, or 

^esoviin case of -^j^^iiit- ^^ discharge the powers and du- 

ties of the said office, the same shall aevolve 



258 THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION, 

on the Yice-President, and the Congress may by law provide 
for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both 
of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer 
shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accord- 
ingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be 
elected. 

<oth Clause. — The President shall, at stated times, receive 

for his services, a compensation, which 

a aiy of le i est- ^^ neither be increased nor diminished 

dent. 

during the period for which he shall have 
been elected, and he shall not receive within that period 
any other emolument from the United States, or any of 
them. 

7th Clause. — Before he enter on the execution of his office, 
he shall take the following oath or affirmation : — " I do sol- 
emnly swear (or affirm) that I will faith- 

J y -^ Oaih of oj^ce. 

fully execute the office of President of the 

United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, 

protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." 

SECTION n. 

1st Clause.— The President shall be commander-m-chief of 
the army and navy of the United States, 

J '' Duties of the Tres- 

and of the militia of the several btates, ^^^^^^ 

when called into the actual service of the 
United States ; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the 
principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon 
any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, 
and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for 
offences against the United States, except in cases of im- 
peachment. 



THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION. 259 

2d Clause. — He shall have poT^er, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, 

.-IT t ' 1 n 1 ^ -^** power to make 

provided two-thirds oi the senators present h-eaHes, appoini 
concur ; and he shall nominate, and bv and ombassadors, 

' - judr/es, etc. 

with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and con- 
suls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of 
the United States, whose appointments are not herein 
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by 
law : but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of 
such inferior officers as they think proper, in the President 
alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 
Zd Clause. — The President shall have power to fill up all 
vacancies that may happen during the 

May fill vacancies. <» i o i 

recess oi the senate, by granting com- 
missions which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

sectio:n" in. 

He shall from time to time give to the Congress informa- 
tion of the state of the Union, and recom- 

^ower to convene t ^ -i • -i 2.' i 

mend to their consideration such measures 

Congress. 

as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; 
he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, 
or either of them, and in case of disagreement between 
them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may ad- 
journ them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall 
receive ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take 
care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commis- 
sion all the officers of the United States. 



260 THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION 

SECTIOTT IV. 

The President, Vice-President and all civil officers of th 
United States, shall be removed from now officers may 
office on impeachment for, and conviction *^ removed. 
of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors 

ARTICLE III. 

SECTION I. 

The judicial power of the United States shall be veste 
in one supreme court, and in such inferior 

, , 1 /^ £ .• ^ Judicial power, ho% 

courts as the Congress may irom time to 

time ordain and establish. The judges, 

both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold the: 

offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, r( 

ceive for their services a compensation, which shall not \ 

diminished during their continuance in office. 

SECTION II. 

Xst Clause. — ^The judicial power shall extend to all cases, i 
law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws ( 
the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be mad^ 
under their authority ; — to all cases affiict- 

, T ,-, T T . . , To whal cases it 

mg ambassadors, other public ministers, extends 

and consuls ; — to all cases of admiralty 
and maritime jurisdiction ; — to controversies to which tl 
United States shall be a party ;— to controversies betwee 
two or more States ; — between a State and citizens of anoth( 
State ; — between citizens of different States ; — between cit 



THE NATIOJ)rAL CONSTITUTION, 261 

zens ot the same State claiming lands under grants of differ- 
ent States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and 
foreign states, citizens or subjects. 

• 2d Clause. — In all cases affecting ambassadors, other pub- 
lic ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be 
party, the supreme court shall have original 

J'tn'iscliciion of ike ..-,.. t n ^.i J.^ i f 

^, , lunsdiction. In all the other cases before 

Stepreme Court. ** 

mentioned, the supreme court shall have 
appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such 
exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall 
make. 

3c? Clause. — The trial of all crimes, except in cases of im- 
peachment, shall be by jury ; and such 
ues lespectng ^^.^^ ^2iSS. be held In the State where the 

trials. 

said crimes shall have been committed ; 
but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be 
at such place or places as the Congress may by law have 
directed. 

SECTION III. 

Is^ Clause. — Treason against the United States shall con- 
sist only in lewinff war a^'ainst them, or 

rreason defined. . ^^ . " ^ . 

m adhering to their enemies, giving them 
aid and comfort. 

%d Clause. — ^o person shall be convicted of treason unless 
on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or 
on confession in open court. 

Zd Clause.— The Congress shall have power to declare the 
punishment of treason, but no attainder of 

J^off punished. 

treason shall work corruption of blood, or 

forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. 



262 THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION 

ARTICLE IV. 

SECTION I. 

Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the 
public acts, records, and iudicial proceed- 

f y ' J r nigkis of States 

ings of every other State. And the Con- to j^ubHc faith 
gress may by general laws prescribe the * 

manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be 
proved, and the effect thereof. 

SECTION n. 

\st Clause. — The citizens of each State 
shall be entitled to all privileges and im- '^^* ^^^' ^' ^* *' 

^ ^ xens. 

munities of citizens in the several States. 

%d Clause. — A person charged in any State with treason, 
felony, or other crime, who shall flee from 

-I -i P -i ' J^^ ci^i t ^^ Executive requisi- 

justice, and be lound m another btate, shall 

on demand of the executive authority of 

the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed 

to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 

Sc? Clause. — No person held to service or labor in one State, 
under the laws thereof, escaping into an- 

Law regulating ser- ^^ ^ ^•, . /. •, 

vice or tabor. ^*^®^' ^^^^^' ^^ consequencc of any law or 
regulation therein, be discharged from such 
service or labor, but shall be deUvered up on claim of the 
party to whom such service or labor may be dtfe. 

SECTION in. 

\st Clause. — New States may be admitted by the Congress 



THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION 26S 

„^ , , into this Union ; but no new State shall 

JV^ew SinieSi how ' 

formed and ad- be formed OP erected within the jurisdic- 
tion of any other State ; nor any State be 
formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of 
States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States 
concerned as well as of the Congress. 

2c? Clause. — The Congress shall have power to dispose of 
and make all needful rules and regulations 

'Power of Congresg j.- j.x. ^ -j. ..i 

,,. , , respectmsr the territory or other property 

over pubhc lands. r o j i i j 

belonging to the United States ; and no- 
thing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to preju- 
dice any claims of the United States, or of any particular 
State. 

SECTION IV. 

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this 
Union a republican form of government, 

T - ,. t f .^ ' A. ' Republican ffove7'n- 

and shall protect each of them agamst m- ^^^^^ ^uaranieed. 
vasion, and on application of the legisla- 
ture, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be 
convened), against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall 
deem it necessary, shall propose amend- 

T . ~ . . - ,. CotisliluHon, how 

ments to this Constitution, or, on the appli- , , 

' ' ^ ^ to be amended. 

cation of the legislatures of two-thirds of 

the several States, shall call a convention for proposing 

amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all 



264 THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION 

intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when 
ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several 
States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one 
or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the 
Congress, provided that no amendment which may be made 
prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall 
in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth 
section of the first article ; and that no State, without its 
consent, shall be deprived of its equal sufirage in the 
Senate. 

ARTICLE YI. 

Is^ Clause. — All debts contracted and engagements entered 

Taiidiiy of debts i^to, before the adoption of this Constitu- 

recof/mzed. \\qx\^ shall be as valid against the United 

States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 

2c? Clause. — This Constitution, and the laws of the United 

States which shall be made in pursuance 

Supreme law of the ^, „ in.,- t i- i 

, , - ^ , thereof ; and all treaties made, or wmcn 

land defined, ' ' 

shall be made, under the authority of the 
United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and 
the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything 
in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary not- 
withstanding. 

Zd Clause. — The senators and representatives before men- 

Oath, of ,,hom re- *^^"^^' ^'^^ *^® members of the several 
quired, and for State legislatures, and all executive and iu- 
dicial officers, both of the United State 
and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirma- 



TEE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION, 265" 

tion to support this Constitution ; but no religious test shall 
ever be requii-ed as a qualification to any office or public trust 
under the United States. 

ARTICLE Vn. 
The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be 
Ratification. Sufficient for the establishment of this Con- 
stitution between the States so ratifying the same. 
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the States 
present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty- 
seven, and of the independence of the United States 
of AmeHca the twelfth. In witness whereof we have 
hereunto subscribed our names. [Signed by the mem- 
bers of the convention.] 

aj\iexd31e]s:ts. 

At the first session of the Fii-st Congi-ess, begun and held 
in the city of Jfew York, on Wednesday, the 4th of March, 
1789, many amendments to the National Constitution were 
offered for consideration. The Congress proposed ten of 
them to the legislatures of the several States. These were 
ratified by the Constitutional number of State legislatures by 
the middle of December, 1791. Five other amendments 
have since been proposed and duly ratified, and have become 
with the other ten a paii: of the Kationa^ Constitution. The 
following are the amendments ; 

ARTICLE L 

Congress shall make uo law respecting an establishment of 



2Q(y THE IS'ATIO^'AL CONSTITUTIOM 

relisrioE, or prohibitinsr the free exercise - " ,. • 

^ ' r o Freedom in relir/ion 

thereof ; or abridging the freedom of and speech^ atid 

, . T . f. .^ of ike press. 

speech, or of the press ; or the nght or the 
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the govern- 
ment for redress of grievances. 

ARTICLE 11. 

A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security 
of a free state, the right of the people to 

Miliiia. in ^ . ^ . , 

keep and bear arms shall not be inirmged. 

ARTICLE IIL 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any 

Soldiers. housc, without the consent of the owner, 

nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
houses, papers, and effects, against unrea- 

Search jearranis, . 

sonable searches and seizures, shall not be 
violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, 
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly desciibing 
the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be 
seized. 

ARTICLE V. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or other- 
^ . w^ise infamous crime, unless on a present- 

Cajnlal crimes. ^ 

ment or indictment of a grand jury, ex- 



THE yATIOyAL COySTTTUTIOX. f6? 

cept in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the 
militia, when in actual service in time of war and public dan 
ger ; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to 
be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be com 
pelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. 
nor to be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due 
process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for pub- 
lic use, without just compensation. 



ARTICLE YI. 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the 
right to a speedy and public trial, by an 

.,. cict TT' Trial hy Jury. 

mipartial jury oi the btate and district 
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district 
shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be in- 
formed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be con- 
fronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory 
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the 
assistance of counsel for his defence. 



ARTICLE YH. 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy 
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of 
trial by jury shall be preserved, and no ^'''^' "U,"'"'"''''" 
fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re- 
examined in any court of the United States, than according 
to the rules of common law. 



268 TME NATIONAL CONSTITUTION* 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punish- 

Hail. - n' T 

ments mnicted. 

ARTICLE IX. 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall 
Ceriain lights de- not be construed to deny or disparage 
fined. others retained by the people. 

ARTICLE X. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the 
miff kts reserved. Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the 
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the 
people. 

ARTICLE XL 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be con- 
strued to extend to any suit in law or 
Judtctat power gq^ij^y^ commenced or prosecuted against 

one of the United States by citizens of 
another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. 

ARTICLE XII. 

. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and votf 
by ballot for President and Vice-Presi- 

. , , in ,1 Amendment respect 

dent, one of whom, at least, shall not be 1,^^ ih^ e/ecHot 
an inhabitant of the same State with % ^"''%''^^"^^ "" 

y ice- J^resideni 

themselves ; they shall name in their 



THM NATIONAL CONSTITUTION, 269 

ballots tlie person voted for as President, and in distinct 
ballots the j3erson voted for as Vice-President, and they shall 
make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and 
of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the num- 
ber of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certifv, 
and transmit sealed to the seat of Government of the United 
States, directed to the President of the Senate ; — the Presi- 
dent of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the 
votes shall then be counted ; — the person having the greatest 
number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of electors ap- 
pointed ; and if no person have such majority, then from 
the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three 
on the list of those voted for as President, the House of 
Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the 
President. But in choosino* the President the votes shall be 
taken by States, the representation from each State having 
one A'ote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a mem- 
ber or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority 
of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the 
House of Representatives shall not choose a President when- 
ever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the 
fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President 
shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other 
constitutional disability of the President. The person hav- 
ing the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be 
the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the 
whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a 
majority, then, from the two highest numbers on the list, 



2-70^ TEE NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONr 

the Senate shall choose the Yice-President ; a quorum for 
the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number 
of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be 
necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineli- 
gible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of 
Vice-President of the United States. 



ARTICLE Xm. 

SECTION I. 

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a 
punishment for crime, whereof the party 

Slavery prohibited. ,,,, , t, . Tin. 

shall have been duly convicted, shall exist 
within the United States, or any place subject to theii* juris- 
diction. 

SECTION II. 

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro- 
priate legislation. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

SECTION I. 

All persons born or naturalized in the United^ States, and 
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United 
States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall 
make or enforce any law which shall 

,.-, ,, .., . ... „ Cilizens and their 

abridge the privileges or immunities or ^ 

citizens of the United States; nor shall 

Any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, 



TRE _ KATIOyAL. COXSTITUTIOX. 271 

without due process of law, nor deny to any person witliin 
its juiisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

GEcno:!T n. 

Representatives chall be appointed among tlic several 
States according to tlieii* respective numbers, counting the 
whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians 
not taxed But when the right to vote at any election for 
the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of 
the United States, representatives in Congress, the execu- 
tive or judicial officers of a State, or the members of the 
Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the 

ciffjustment cf t-e^ 

male inhabitants of such State, being preseufaf/on to the 

. , £ ~\ 'j' J? elective franehise. 

twenty-one years of age, and citizens of ^ 

the United States, or in any way abridged, except for par- 
ticipation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representa- 
tion therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the 
•number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole numbsr 
of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

SECnOX EEL 

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Con- 
gress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold 
any office, civil or military, under the United States, or 
under any State, who, having previously taken an oath as a 
member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, 
or as a member of any State Legislature, 
t>i*abiing eon- ^^ ,^^ cxecutive or judicial officer of any 

State, to support the Constitution of the 



272 ^^^ JS'ATIONAL CONSTITUTION. 

United Stcdes, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebel- 
lion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies 
thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thii'ds of each 
House, remove such disability. 

SECTION IT. 

The validity of the public debt of the United States^ 

authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of 

pensions and bounties for services in sup- 

ITreaimeni of jntb- . . ,• i it in* 

,. , ,; pressmss: insurrection or rebelhon, shall not 

lie debis^ r o 7 

be questioned. But neither the United 
States nor any State sliall assume or pay any debt or obliga- 
tion incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the 
United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of 
any slave ; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall 
be held illegal and void. 

SECTION V. 

Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate 
legislation, the provisions of this article. 

ARTICLE XV. 

SECTION I. 

The right of the citizens of the ZTnited States shall not 
be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any 
State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of 
servitude. 

SECTION n. 

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 



QUESTIONS. 



CHAPTER I. 



1. What is the object of Government? 

2. What is needed that men may live together in peace f 

3. What is the office of Government with respect to this end t 

4. What is necessary to the existence of government ? 

5. What is meant by civil society? 

C. Why cannot men live together without government ? 

7. What consequences would follow the absence of all laws ? 

8. What is a state of anarchy ? 

9. Is civil society of human or divine origin ? 

10. How does it appear that God made men to live together in 
society ? 

11. What is said of the savage state ? 

13. To what is a social civilized state necessary? 

lo. What would be the result if all men shouldattempt to lead 
Bolitary lives? 

14. What is said of those living in a savage state? 

15. State in what respect savages are inferior to civilized men, 

16. Why are the powers of men living in a savage state imper- 
fectly developed ? 

17. What state furnishes the conditions for developing man's 
powers ? 

18. What inference is drawn from these considerations ? 

19. Is the State a voluntary society? 

20. Is it the result of a social compact? 

21. What is meant by a social compact ? 

22. What does history say about such an event? 

23. What is it said men bind themselves by the social compact 
to do ? 

24. On what, then, is their obligation to be subject to the re- 
straints of society founded? 



274 QUESTIOI^'S. 

25. How does it appear that the compact cannot be the ground 
of any obligation ? 

26. What are the fundamental laws of society ? 

27. Do the rules of justice owe their authority to the consent 
of the governed? 

28. How do men become members of the State ? 

29. Why is man a subject of law ? 

30. Why may not men abjure society? 

31. What is necessary in order to" be a ihan ? 

32. Suppose all men should vote to abolish society and govern- 
ment, how would it affect men's obligation to have society and 
government ? 

33-. What is said of the State and the government 1 
■-■ 34. When do they not co-exist? 
35. What is the relation of government to the State? 
30. When does the State perform extraordinary acts? 
37. What are such acts termed? 

• .38. What kind of an institution is Government ? 

39. How does that appear ? 

40. What do the Scriptures teach on this subject ? 

, 4! . Wliat is the fundamental idea of the State ? 
'42. Wliat should all its rules be? 

43. Under what conditions would laws be unnecessary ? 

44. How does it appear that men should act justly ? 

45. What is the State under obligation to secure to its members? 
; 46. Why is the State under obligation to have government ? 

47. W^here does the supreme power reside ? 

48. Wlience does government derive its powers? 

49. By what is the power of the State limited ? 

50. What powers is the State under obligation to give the gov- 
ernment ? 

51. When we say the sovereign power belongs to the State, 
•what do we mean ? 

53. In what capacity . does the sovereign powar belong to the 
people ? 

53. How may the relation of individuals to the sovereign power 

be illustrated *; 

■ '54. State the illustration. 

- 55. Is -the sovereign power of the State divisible nmong the in. 

dividuals who oomposH the State? - 



QUESTIONS- 275 



CHAPTER IL 

1. What oWigation of tlie State is mentioned? 

2. What question is asked? 

3. What is the opinion of some respecting the right to vote ? 

4. What is the opinion of others ? 

5. Is the proposition, "Every one has a right to vote," a self- 
evident truth ? 

G. What consequence follows the admission of the proposition, 
that the right to vote is an attribute of humanity ? 

7. What IS regarded by some as the ground of man's duty to 
obey the laws ? 

8 Why is man a subject of law ? 
9, How does he become a member of the State ? 
. 10. To what fundamental law is he subject ? 

11. Is his consent asked ? 

12. What consequence follows the proposition, that those only 
are subject to laws who have a voice in making them? 

13. How do those reason who deny the doctrine of universal 
suffrage ? 

14. If suffrage be restricted, on what principle should the 
restrictions be made ? 

]o. Suppose that limiting suffrage to property holders would 
secure the clioice of the best rulers ? 

16. Who are interested in having good rulers ? 

17. On what ground do the advocates of a property qualifica= 
tion defend their views ? 

18. What is to determine the question, Should the right of 
suffrage be confined to those who can read and write ? 

lU. Will the ability to read and write qualify one to vote 
wisely? 

20.- State the supposed case of the ship at sea ? 

21. Have all the passengers an equal interest, so far as life is 
concerned, in the safety of the ship ? 

22. Does that prove that they should all vote in the choice of a 
captain ? 

23. What is said of the analogy between tho supposed ship 
and the ship of state ? 



%.70 QUESTIONS. 

24. Who are interested in having the best rulers? 

2o. What course should, then, be adopted ? 

2(>. Would such a course infringe on the rights of any ? 

27, To what has every man a right ? 

28, What is said about the limitation of the elective franchise ? 

29, What took place soon after the adoption of the Constitution ? 



CHAPTER III. 



1. What is the great end of government ? 
" . 2. What would follow the perfect administration of justice ? 

3. What difference is there between securing justice and 
securing liberty ? 

4. Of what is liberty the result? 

5. What do many suppose in regard to men's freedom ? 

G. What do they suppose men relinquish by becoming mem- 
bers of the State ? . 

7. How do men become members of the State, and subjects 
of law ? 

8. What follows from that fact ? 

9. Is a man at liberty to do in.society what he would be at 
liberty to do if he were a solitary being? 

10. How does it appear that he has not relinquished the 
rights of a solitary being ? What comparison is made ? 

11. What is law designed to secure to man ? 

12. Wliy, when it forbids him to take poison or to murder, 
does it not abridge his liberty? 

1?). What liberty can he not claim? 

14. Suppose the law forbids only that which is wrong ? 

15. To what has every one a right ? 

16. When does the law furnish this ? 

17, What is Macintosh's definition of liberty? 

18, What freedom can man claim ? 

19, When has he all the liberty he can ask? 

20, What would a just and wise system of laws forbid and 
permit? 

21, What would the perfect execution of such laws furnish? 

22. What would the perfection of law secure ? 

23. What do some suppose liberty consists in ? 

24. What may men having the privilege of self-government do ? 

25, Of what is liberty the result ? 



QUESTIONS. 277 

26. ^Vliy is not a despotic g-overnment, if it make and execute 
wise laws, a free government ? 

27. What is essential to liberty ? 

28. What is tlie best kind of government ? 

29. How can we determine what is the best kind for a particu- 
lar nation ? 

30. What are the three forms of government ? 

31. What is a Monarcliv ? 

32. What are the titles of the different monarchs of Europe ? 

33. What is an Absolute Monarchy? 

34. Wherein do Absolute Monarchy and Despotism differ 1 

35. What is said of absolute monarchy when the monarch is 
an able man ? 

36. How does that appear ? 

37. What have republics sometimes found it necessary to do? 

38. What examples are given ? 

39. What is said of the absolute monarch ? 

40. What is a Limited Monarchy ? 

41. What is a Constitution ? 

42. Are constitutions written or unwritten ? 

43. Of what does the Constitution of Great Britain consist ? 

44. In an hereditary monarchy, who succeeds to the crown ou 
the death of the monarch ? 

45. What is meant by the maxim, " The king never dies"? 

46. Which is preferable, an hereditary or an elective mon- 
archy ? 

47. Define Aristocracy. 

48. What is the testimony of history respecting this form of 
government ? 

49. What isaEepublic? 

50. Wliat is a pure Democracy ? 

51. What example is given? 

52. To which of the three forms of government does the Eng- 



CHAPTER IV. 



1. How many Theories of Representation are there? 

2. State the commonly received theory of representation. 



278 QUESTIONS. 

3. What doctrine is a logical inference from this theory ? 

4. What does that doctrine require the representative to do ? 

5. State at large the objection to this theory, 

G. When ought the will of the people to be obeyed ? 

7. Show that the people are not infallible. 

8. What are many of the provisions of government designed 
to prevent ? 

9^ State another theory of representation. 

10. Why should the people select good and wise men ? 

11. What should the representatives be restrained by ? 

12. What should the duties of the legislator be prescribed by? 
.18. How far should the representative conform to the wishes 

of his constituents ? 

J 4. What is a Constitution ? 

15. Suppose the constitution comes in conflict witli the law of 
rectitude ? 

16. What limitation is there to the power of the government ? 

17. Suppose the legislature passes a law in violation of the con- 
stitution? 

18. How is such a law to be declared void? 

19. Can a man decline to obey a law because he thinks it un- 
constitutional ? 

20. What is his duty in regard to it? 

21. When is the will of the people supreme? 

22. In what way should constitutions be changed ? 

2o. What is said about the propriety of changing the consti- 
tution ? 

24. What law is higher than constitutional law? 

25. Suppose the law of the land comes in conflict with, the law 
of God ? 

26. Who is to decide whether a law is contrary to the law of 
God or. not? 

' 27. Why may not Congress or the Supreme Court decide the 
question ? 

28. Show that theright of private Judgment would not lead to 
anarchy. , 

29. Under what circumstances may a government originating 
in fraud or violence claim obedience ? 

80. How lotyg may it be the duty, of the people to obey a gov- 
ernment which may have no right to command.? 



QUESTIOKS. 279' 

31. Does every act of oppression justify resistance totlio gov- 
ernment? 

'62. When may the people resist and overthrow a government t 
3H. What is this ri^ht termed ? 

34. What is said of the worst kind of government ? 

35. To what does anarchy lead ? 



CHAPTER V. 



1. What educating influence had the Colonial governments ? 

2. When and where did the first representative legislature 
meet ? 

3. How had the people of Virginia been previously governed ? 

4. "SVhat compact did the Pilgrim Fathers form? 

5. By whom was it signed? 

6. What oflBcers were elected under this compact? 

7. Wliere did the legislative power of the colony reside? 

8. What change was made in 1639? 

9. When and how was the colony of Plymouth joined to that 
of Massacliusetts? 

^ 10. Under what auspices was the colony of Massacliusetts 
planted ? 

1 1. Wliat powers had the company ? ^ 

12. Where was the government of the colony at first ? 
' 13. In what way was it transferred to the colony ? 

14. How did the charter provide tliat the government should 
be administered ? 

15. Who were meant by freemen of the company ? 

16. What did the officers chosen do with the charter ? 

17. What powers of government did the colony of Massachu- 
setts then possess ? 

18. In what respects were the governments of all the colonies 
similar? 

. 19. Into what three classes have the governments been divided? 

20. Describe the Provincial Governments. 

21. Describe the Proprietary Governments. 

22. Describe. the Charter Governments. ' ..: 



2S0 QUESTIOKSi 

23. What amount of power was possessed by tlie people of 
the colonies ? 

24. What advantages resulted from the forms granted them ? 

25. What relations did the colonies sustain to one another ? 

26. What privileges did the colonists claim ? 

27. What power did Parliament claim over the colonists ? 

28. What was the Stamp Act, and its design ? 

29. What effect did this act have ? 

30. What did the attempt to raise a revenue lead to? 

31. When and where did the first Congress meet? 

32. How were the delegates chosen ? 

33. What did this Congress do ? 

34. When did the second Congress meet ? 

35. What were some of its acts ? 

36. What powers did Congress assume after the Declaration 
of Independence ? 

37. What has this government by Congress been called ? 



CHAPTER VI 

1. When did Congress take measures for forming a league 
or union between the States ? 

2. What measures were taken with reference to this end? 

3. By whom were the Articles of Confederation agreed upon ? 

4. When were they to become binding ? 

5. When were they ratified by all the States ? 

6. What was the design of the Articles ? 

7. What provision did they make for a Congress ? 

8. How were the States to be represented in Congress? 

9. How were the delegates to Congress paid ? 

10. How was the voting done? 

11. Had the States equal power in Congress? 

12. State some of the leading powers of Congress. 

13. How many States were required to carry all important 
measures ? 

14. \V hat provision was made for a Judiciary ? 

15. What provision for an Executive Department? 

16. What was the great defect of the Confederation ? 



17. How was money raised for the treasury of t"he Confedera- 
)n? 

18. What power had Congress to regulate commerce ? 

19. To what were the defects of the Confederajion leading the 



tion? 



country ? 
20. What remark of Washington is quoted ? 



CHAPTER VII. 



1. Who led the way in forming the Constitution ? 

2. Slate tlie measures taken by Madison in 1784. 

3. VVhat did he indace the Legislature of Virginia to do? 

4. What States were represented at the Convention at An- 
napolis ? 

5. What action was taken by the Convention ? 

6. W ho drew up the recommendation? 

7. What did it propose? 

8. By what State was the recommendation acted upon first? 
D. What action was taken by Congress ? 

10. When and wliere did the Federal Convention meet ? 

11. What was the whole number of delegates? 

12. Xmujc some of the leading members ? 

18. What did Madison say respecting the ability of the mem- 
bers of the Convention ? 

14. Who was the President of the Convention ? 

15. What rule in regard to secrecy was adopted? 
W. Who kept a record of proceedings ? 

17. When was it published ? 

18. Who made the opening speech of the Convention ? 

19. State the plan of government proposed by Eandolph. 

20. How long were the resohttifms of Randolph debated ? 

21. What was the first resolution passed by the Convejition? 

22. With what views did a majority of the Convention as- 
semble ? 

23. What change of views took place ? 

24. State the plan of government embodied in the nineteen 
resolutions passed by the Convention. 

25. What were some of the difficulties in the way of progress ? 
2G. What plan was proposed by Mr. Patterson ? 

27. State briefly the character of the two plans then before the 
Convention. 

28. Which plan was adopted, and by what majority ? 

29. State Hamilton's plan of government. 

30. W^hat proposition was made by Franklin, in view of the 
difficulties experienced by the Convention ? 



2821 QUESTIONS. 

31. What did Washington say, in view of those difficulties? 

33. What was done when a majority had agreed upon the lead- 
ing provisions of the Constitution ? 

38. How long was the report of the Committee of Detail de- 
bated *£ 

34. Wlio revised the style and arranged the Articles of the 
Constitution ? 

35. What amendment was made at the suggestion of Wash- 
ington ? 

36. By whom was the Constitution signed? 

37. Mention some of FranKlin's remarks. 
38= Mention some of Hamilton's remarks. 



CHAPTER VIIL 



1. What action did Congress take respecting the Constitutioa 
when laid before it ? 

2. How was the Constitution received by the people ? 

3. What two eminent ])atriots opposed it? 

4. Who were some of the ablest writers in defence of tho 
Constitution ? 

5. What were the friends of the Constitution called ? 

6. How was the Constitution adopted ? 

7. What State adopted it first, and at what time ? 

8. What two States adopted it last? 

9. In what States was it adopted by large, and in what S*ate3 
by small, majorities? 

10. Who was President of the Massachusetts Convention? 

11. Who were the leading advocates of the Constitution in the 
Convention ? 

12. Who were the leading advocates in the New Tork Cou- 
ventioh ? 

13. What State refused to adopt the Constitution? 

14. What was the action of Khode Island in regard to it? 

15. What was done when nine States had adopted the Consti- 
tution ? 

16. When were elections for officers of the new government 
held? 

17. When was the new government to go into operation ? 

18. Who were elected President and Vice-Presid*^nt ? 

19. When and where was Washington inaugurated ? 

20. Name the members of his Cabinet. 

21. When did North Carolina and Khode Island come into 
tiie Union ? 



QUESXIOKS. 2S3 



CHAPTER IX. 

1. Repeat tlie Preamble. 

2. What two views of the Constitution are mentioned? 

3. State the league or compact view. 

4. State the true view. 

5. By whom can the Constitution be abolished or changed? 

6. Why can not a State change or abolish it ? 

7. What evidence bave you tiiat the Federal Convention in- 
tended to make a national government instead of a league ? 

8. Give the substance of Mr. Webster's remarks on tbis: 
subject. 

9. What was one ground of objection to the Constitution ? 
10. What objection was urged by Patrick Henry ? 

. IL What was said by Mr. Wilson, in the Pennsylvania Con- 
vention ? 

. 12. What was said by Mr. Johnson, in the Connecticut Con- 
vention ? 

13. Were Wilson and Johnson members of the Federal Con- 
vention ? 

14. By whom does the preamble say the Constitution was or- 
dained and established ? 

15. Does the Constitution say any thing about a league or 
compact ? 

10. What does the second section of the sixtb article of tbo 
Constitution declare ? 

17. What arbiter for tlie decision of questions relating to the 
violation of the Constitution, does the Constitution appoint? 

18. In what way can a question respecting ihe constitutional- 
ity of a law be brought before the Supreme Court ? 

*19. What decision of the Supreme Court is mentioned ? 
20. Why should not the States of the Union be called Sover- 
eign States ? 



CHAPTER X. 



1. What are the three departments of government ? 

2. Whyshonld these departments be distinct and independent? 

3. Is it possible to make any one of these departments per- 
fectly independent of the others ? 

4. Where is the legislative power of the Government of the 
United States vested ? 

5. Of what does Congress consist ? . 



284 QITESTIOKS;' 

6. Why are two houses better than one ? 

7. Why should the two Houses he differently constituted? 

8. Of what does the Parliament of Great Britain consist? 

9. Of what does the House of Commons consist? 
10 Of what does the House of Lords consist? 

]1. How is the House of Representatives composed ? 

13. What can be said in favor of the Term of Service? 
18. Who may vote for Representatives ? 

14. Why this provision of the Constitution? 

15. How old must a Representative be ? 
1(5. Why this provision ? 

17. How old must a member of the House of Commons be ? 

18. What is required with respect to Citizenship and Inhabitr 
ancy. 

19. Why should a Representative be an inhabitant of the 
State for whicli he is chosen ? 

20. Into what districts are the States divided ? 

21. Must a Representative be an inhabitant of the District for 
which he is cbosen ? 

22. What advantages might follow going out of a District for 
a Representative? 

2o. What is said respecting the inhabitancy of the members 
of the House of Commons? 

24. Is there a property qualification for a Representative ? 

25. State the provisions of the Constitution in regard to the 
apportionment of Representatives and direct taxes. 

26. What limitation is there to the number of Representatives ? 

27. Suppose a State has less than thirty thousand inhabitants ? 

28. Do the Representatives vote by States, or as individuals? 

29. Why were three-fifths of the slaves counted in the basis of 
representation ? 

SO. Is the word slave found in the Constitution ? 

31. What has taken place in regard to the ratio of representa- 
tion as population has increased ? 

32. Wliat is done when vacancies occur in the representation 
for any State? 

38. How are the Speaker and other officers of the House of 
Representatives chosen ? 

34. Where is the power of Impeachment vested? 

35. What is meant by Impeachment ? 



CHAPTER XL 



1. How is the Senate composed ? 

2. Why the provision that the Senators shall be chosen by 
the Legislatures of the States ? 



QUESTIONS. 2S5 

3. Whr do the large and the small States have the same num- 
ber of Senators ? 

4. Whv should each State have t\vo Senators? 

5. What can be said in favor of the term of service ? 

6. Into how many classes were the Senators divided? 

7. What was the object of this division ? 

8. What must be the age of a Senator? 

9. Wiiy this provision ? 

10. How long must the Senator have been a citizen? 

11. Why was that length of time required ? 

12. Wlio presides over the Senate ? 

13. Why should not the Senate choose its own presiding officer? 

14. When does the Senate choose a President pro tempore ? 

15. How is the House of Lords composed? 

16. Name the difterent orders of nobility. 

17. By whom are peers created ? 

18. How may the King carry a measure in the House of Lords ? 

19. Who is the presiding officer of the House of Lords ? 
2U. Wliere is the power to try impeachments vested ? 

21. Who presides in the Senate when the President is tried? 

22. Why should not the Vice-President preside on that occa- 
sion ? 

23. What vote is necessary to conviction ? 

24. By w-hom must the impeachment be made ? 

20. Why should not the impeached be tried by a court of 
justice instead of the Senate? 

26. Whence was this provision of the Constitution borrowed ? 

27. What penalties can be iniiicted on those convicted, on im- 
peachment ? 

28. What penalties can be inflicted in Great Britain ? 

29. Suppose a man be impeached and convicted of a crime 
punishable by law ? 

30. What provision of the Constitution in regard to the time, 
place, and manner of holding elections ? 

31. How often must Congress meet ? 

32. Why should it meet once a year ? 

33. Who judge of tlie election and qualification of members ? 

34. What reason for this provision ? 

35. How many are necessary to constitute a quorum ? 

36. What may a smaller number do ? 

37. Give the reasons for tliose provisions. 

38. Why should each House determine the rules for its pro- 
ceed in g-s ? 

39. How may a member be expelled? 

_ 40. What do the rules that govern the proceedings of legisla- 
tive bodies constitute ? 

41. What does the Constitution require as to the keeping of a 
joujmal? 

42. Is it to be published ? 



:.2S6 QUESTI025'S. 

:, 43. When must tlie veas and nays be called ? 

44. Give the reasons for the above-mentioned provisions. . J 

45. With what exceptions are tlie proceedings of Congress to 
be open to the public? 

46. What is necespary in order to be permitted to witness the 
proceedings of Parliament ? 

47. What is done when a vote is taken ? 

48. What does the Constitution say respecting the adjourn- 
ments of Congress ? 

49. How are members of Congress paid for their services ? 

50. What special privileges do they enjoy? 

51. Why are these privileges conferred? 

53. Suppose a member of Congress commits a high crime? 
5H. To what offices are members of Congress ineligible ? 

54. What reason can be given for this ? 

55. Can the members of the United States Cabinet hold seats 
in Congress ? 

58. Can members of the English Cabinet hold seats in the 
House of Commons ? 

57. Where must all bills for revenue originate? 

58. Whence was this provision borrowed? 

59. Can the Senate amend a revenue bill ? 

60. W^here must all bills for revenue originate, in Parliament ? 

61. Can the Lords amend a revenue bill? 

62. What power does this give to the Commons ? 
6-}. State the mode of passing a law. 

64. What advantage may result from the qualified veto pos- 
sessed by the President ? 

65. Has the King of England an absolute negative ? 

66. What must be done with every order and resolution of 
Congress ? 

67. What was. the provision intended to prevent ? 



CHAPTER XII. 



1. What is the power of Congress as to Taxation ? 

2. For what ])urposes may Congress lay and collect taxes ? 
8. Why can not Congress lay a higher tax in New York than 

in Maryland ? 

4. Why could not Congress raise money to aid foreign nations ? 

5. What are Taxes ? 

6. What are Imposts ? 

7. What are Excises ? ; 

8. What are Duties ? 

9. Can Congress impose duties for the purpose of protecting 
domestic industry ? .;....... ... -.• 



QTTESTIOiJS. '281' 

10. What evidence of this is found id the preamble to the 
first Act of tlie first Congress? 

11. What do decisions of the Supreme Court show? 

12. Wliat department of the Government can borrow money 1 
VS. Why should Congress have this i)ower? 

14. What is the power of Congress as to commerce? 

15. Wliy should Congress have this power? 

16. What power does it involve ? 

17. What is an embargo? 

18. Show that Congress has power to lay an embargo. 

19. \yhat are Navigation Laws ? 

20. What evils would follow if the State had power to regu- 
late commerce ? 

21. What are Naturalization Laws? 

22. Where is the power to pass such laws vested ? 

23. What are Bankrupt Laws ? 

24. Why should Congress have exclusive power to pass such 
laws ? 

25. What is said of Insolvent Laws passed by State Legisla- 
tures? 

26. What is the provision of the Constitution relative to coin- 
age, weights and measures, »&c ? 

27. Why should these powers be vested in Congress ? 

28. How may post-otfices and post roads be established ? 

29. What are Copyright and Patent Laws ? 

30. Why should power to pass such laws be possessed by Con- 
gress, and not by the State Legislatures ? 

31. What power has Congress as to j)iracy and offences against 
the Law of Nations? 

32. Where is the power to declare war vested ? 

33. What are Letters of Marque and Reprisal? 

34. By whom may armies be raised and supported? 

35. Why the provision forbidding Congress from making an 
appropriation for a longer term than two years ? 

36. By whom may a navy be established ? 

■ 37. For what purpose, and by whom, may the militia be called 

out? 

.-38. Who is to decide when the danger is sufficient to justify 

calling forth the militia? 

39. What power does Congress possess over the seat of gov- 
ernment, and other territory purchased for forts, &c ? 

40. Why should Congress possess this power ? 

41. What general power is given to Congress? 

42. What clause in the Constitution gives Congress power to 
charter National Banks? 

43. State facts connected with the charter of the first National 
Bank. 

44. State facts connected with the second National Bank. 



^SS QUESTIONS. 

45. State tlie main argument in favor of the constitutionality 
of a law chartering a bank of the United States. 

4(j. Has the question been before tlie Supreme Court ? 

47. Wlien was the act, authorizing the National Banks now 
in existence, passed ? 



CHAPTER XIII. 

1. Up to what date did the Constitution prohibit laws for 
al^olishing the slave trade ? 

2. Why this prohibition ? 

3. When may the Writ of Habeas Corpushe suspended? 

4. Explain what is meant by a Writ of Habeas Corpus. 

5. Who is to decide when the public safety requires the 
Writ to be suspended ? 

6. What is a Bill of Attainder ? 

7. W^hy should not Congress have power to pass such a bill?- 

8. What is an Ex Post Facto Law ? 

9. What is a Capitation Tax ? 

10. In what proportion must such taxes be laid? 

11. What provision of the Constitution requires Congress to 
treat the States with equal justice ? 

12. How can money be drawn from the Treasury ? 
18. Can Congress grant a title of nobility ? 

14. Can a State grant a title of nobility? 

15. W'hy this prohibition ? 

16. Wliy are officers of the United States prohibited from ac- 
cepting any present or title from a foreign power ? 

17. State the constitutional prohibitions on the States? 

18. W^hat is meant by Bills of Credit? 

19. May the States borrow money and issue bonds? 

20. What is a " tender"? 

21. Can Congress make any thing except gold and silver a 
legal tender ? 

22. Illustrate what is meant by a bill impairing the obligation 
of contracts. 

2d. Is a charter a contract? 

24. Are the State insolvent laws consistent with the provision 
respecting impairing the obligation of contracts? 

25. For what purposes may a State impose duties ? 

26. Why are the States prohibited from keeping troops, ships 
of war, and making treaties with other nations? 

27. May Virginia enter into a league with Maryland ? Why 
not ? 

28. What powers did the Constitution confer ou Congress? 

29. What powers were reserved to the States ? 



Q^E3TI0^-s. 289 



CHAPTER XIV. 

1. Where is tlie Executive power vested ? 

2. Show that a single is better than a plaral Executive. 

3. What is the President's terra of office ? 

4. What can be said in favor of that term? 

5. What objections could be broughc against a longer term? 

6. Can the President be re-elected ? 

7. What can be said in favor of this provision? 

8. For how long a period is the Vice President chosen ? 

9. What events have shown that the office of Vice-President 
is a verv important one ? 

10. By Avhoni are President and Vice-President chosen ? 

11. How manv electors does each State appoint ? 

12. Wiiat persons are excluded from being electors ? 
18. What power has Congress in regard to the electors? 

14. Why does the Constitution provide that the day of elec- 
tion must be uniform throughout tiie United States V 

15. What persons are eligible to the office of President? 

16. Why should the President be a native-born citizen? 

17. Why should he be thirty-five years old ? 

18. Why the provision as to residence? 

19. State the mode in which the President and Vice-President 
are chosen. 

20. W^hat Presidents were chosen by the House of Represen- 
atives ? 

21. What is done when the office of President becomes va- 
cant by death or removal ? 

22. What Vice-Presidents have thus become Presidents? 

23. What is done when there is no Vice President ? 

24. What is the provision of the Constitution in regard to the 
compensation of the President ? 

2.5. What is the salary of the President? 

26. What oath or affirmation is required of him ? 



CHAPTER XV. 



1. State some of the powers conferred on the President by 
the Constitution. 

2. Why should the military power of the nation be uudtT 
the control of the President ? 

3. What prevents his being a military despot? 

4. Where is the pardoning power vested ? 

o. Why should there be a pardoning power? 



I 



290 QUESTIOi^S. 

6. What limitation is tliere to the power of the President to 
grant pardons ? 

7. Where is the treaty-making power vested? 

8. By whom are ambassadors and officers of the United 
States appointed ? 

9. What provision is made for the appointment of inferior 
officers ? 

10. Why is the treaty -making power given to the President 
and Senate, instead of Congress ? 

11. By whom are treaties negotiated? 

12. When are they laid before the Senate ? 

13. Is the President bound to ratify a treaty if the Senate ap- 
prove it ? 

14. By whom must the money necessary to carry a treaty into 
eflPect be voted ? 

15. Have the Representatives a right to withhold the appro- 
priation, if they do not approve the treaty ? 

16. What debate on this subject is mentioned ? 

17. On whom does the English Constitution confer the power 
to declare war and make peace ? 

18. Suppose the House of Commons do not approve of a dec- 
laration of war by the King. 

19. Who appoints the officers of the English government ? 

20. What benefits may result from the provision requiring 
the consent of the Senate to the appointments of the President ? 

21. What is an Ambassador ? 

22. What is a Consul ? 

23. Where is the power of removal from office vested ? 

24. By whom has that power been heretofore exercised ? 

25. What is done in case of vacancies occurring during the 
recess of the senate ? 

26. How may this power be abused ? 

27. In what way is it customary for the President to make 
his communications to Congress ? 

28. When may the President convene and adjourn Congress ? 

29. Who has power to receive ambassadors ? 

30. Show that this is an important power. 

31. What is the duty of the President as to the laws ? 

32. How may the President be removed from office? 

33. How may all civil officers be removed? 

34. What is meant by " civil officers"? 

35. Where is the executive power of the English government 
vested ? 

36. Who perform all executive acts ? 

37. W^hat is meant by " the administration " ? 

38. What determines the political character of the adminis- 
tration ? 

39. When is it customary for m inisters to resign ? 

40. Who is commander-in chief of the army and navy? 



QUESTION'S. " 291 



41. By whom are fhe judges appointed ? 

42. What is the Privy Council *c 

43. What power has the Privy Council ? 



CHAPTER XVI. 

1. What is the office of the Judiciary ? 

2. Where is the judicial power of the United States vested ? 
d. When and how were the National Courts organized ? 

4. Name the three national courts. 

5. Of what does the Supreme Court consist? 

6. When and where are its sessions held ? 

7. How many Judicial Circuits are there ? 

8. Who are the Circuit Judges ? 

9. What are the District Courts ? 

10. What are the officers of the national courts ? 

11. What is the duty of the Attorney-General ? 

12. What is the duty of the District-Attorney ? 

13. What is the duty of the Marshal ? 

14. What is the duty of the Clerk ? 

15. How are the Judges appointed ? 

16. What is their Tenure of Office ? 

17. Why should they hold office during good behavior ? 

18. Suppose the judge holds his office at the will of a monarch? 

19. What objection can be urged against an elective judiciary ? 

20. What objection can be urged against the tenure of office 
during good behavior ? 

21. How is the compensation of the judges fixed ? 
23. To what does the judicial power extend ? 

23. When does a case " arise " under the Constitution ? 

24. Give an example. 

25. Give an example of a case arising under a treaty. 

26. What is meant by Equity Jurisprudence? 

27. What is meant by Admiralty Jurisdiction ? 

28. Can the United States bring a suit against an individual? 

29. Can an individual bring a suit against the United States? 

30. Can citizens of one State bring a suit against another State ? 

31. Can foreigners residing in the United States sue in the 
national courts ? 

32. In what cases has the Supreme Court original jurisdiction ? 

33. What is the principal business of the Supreme Court ? 

34. What provision is made by the Constitution for trial by 
jury ? 

35. In trials by jury, mention the two kinds of judges. 

36. Where must one accused of crime be tried ? 



292 QUESTIOKS. 

37. How does it appear that Congress caii establish tribunals 
inferior to the Supieme Court ? 

38. May appeals be taken from the State Courts to the Na- 
tional Courts ? 

39. Who was the first Chief-Justice of the United States? 

40. What are the superior courts of England ? 

41. What is the Court of Cliancery? 

42. Name tlie five superior Courts of Chancery ? 

43. What is the highest court of common law in England? 

44. How many judges has it ? 

45. Of what cases does it take cognizance ? 

4G. Of what does tlie Court of Common Pleas consist ? 

47. What is its jurisdiction ? 

48. What are real actions ? 

49. Of what does the Court of Exchequer consist ? 

50. What is said respecting its jurisdiction? 

51. Which is the highest judicial tribunal in Great Britain ? 



CHAPTER XVII. 



1. What is Treason, as defined by the Constitution? 

2. Why is it defined in the Constitution ? 

3. On what testimony can one be convicted of treason ? 

4. W^ho has power to declare the punishment of treason ? 

5. What is the punishment of treason by the common law? 

6. What is the punishment ordered by Congress? 

7. What is meant by " corruption of blood " ? 

8. What does the Constitution say respecting it? 

9. What is the provision of tlie Constitution in regard to the 
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of the States ? 

10. To what rights are the citizens of each State entitled in 
other States ? 

11. Suppose a person charged with crime in one State flees 
to another? 

12. What was the provision of the Constitution as to fugitive 
slaves ? 

13. How may new States be admitted into the Union ? 

14. W^hat limitations are mentioned in the Constitution ? 

15. What is the power of Congress over the Territories? 

16. Of what do the Territorial governments consist? 

17. W'hat does the Constitution require the United States to 
guarantee to every State in the Union? 

18. Show how the Constitution may be amended. 

19. Repeat the section containing the supremacy of the Con- 
stitution. 

20. What is required of tlie National and State officers? 



QUESTIONS. 293 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

1. What is a Bill of Rights ? 

2. What does the first amendment to the Constitution for- 
bid? 

3. Why should freedom of speech be secured? 

4. What is the difference between freedom of the press and 
licentiousness of the press. 

5. What right does the second article of the Amendments 
secure ? 

6. What does the third article forbid ? 

7. What does the fourth article forbid? 

8. What is necessary before one can be tried for a crime ? 

9. ^^'hat is a Grand Jury ? 

10. When is a man said to be indicted? 

11. Why should not a man be tried twice fertile same offence ? 

12. When and %vhere must one accused of crime be tried ? 
33. What privileges are secured to the accused? 

14. \Vhat is the seventh article designed to secure? 

15. What does the eighth article guard against? 

16. What does the ninth article guard against? 

17. What is the tenth article? 

18. What was the design of this amendment ? 

19. What is the thirteenth amendment? 

20. When was the Amendment proposed in Congress? 

21. When was its ratification by the Legislatures of three- 
fourths of the States officially announced? 



CHAPTER XIX. 



1. Which State was the first to form and adopt a constitu- 
tion? 

2. What two States continued, after the Declaration of In- 
dependence, to use their charters as constitutions? 

3. Which was the first new State admitted to the Union 
after the adoption of the Federal Constitution ? 

4. How was the territory out of which Louisiana and other 
States were formed, acquired? 

5. What controversy arose in connection with the application 
of Missouii for admission to the Union? 

G. How was it settled ? 

7. From what territory was the State of Texas formed ? 

8. How was the territory constituting California acquired ? 

9. What States were admitted without having previously 
had Territorial governments ? 



294 QUESTIONS. 

10. What was Texas when she applied for admission ? 

11. To what are the Constitutions of all the States similar? 

12. How are the powers of government divided in them all? 

13. Where is the legislative power vested ? 

14. Where is the executive power vested ? 

15. What is said of the judicial systems of the States ? 

16. Wbat is said respecting the meeting of the Legislatures ? 

17. What is said respecting the appointment of judges? 
38. What is said respecting Chancery courts? 

19. What is said respecting the jurisdiction of the State 
courts ? 

20. Before what officers do the smaller matters of litigation 
come ? 

21. What is the relation of the State Constitutions to the Con- 
stitution of the United States ? 

22. How are the States divided ? 

23. What is a County Seat ? 

24. What political powers are exercised by the Townships 
into which some of the States are divided? 

25. What an incorporated Borough or City? 

26. Where is the legislative power possessed by the City of 
New York vested? 

27. Where is the executive power of the City vested ? 

28. How is the Mayor elected ? 

29. What is the duty of the Chamberlain of the City ? 

30. Has the City of New York a separate j udiciary ? 

31. What is said of all the large Cities in the Union ? 



CHAPTER XX. 

1. What is International Law? 

2. Of what should it consist ? 

3. Of what does it consist ? 

4. What is the remedy in case of violation ? 

5. What is the relation nations sustain to each other? 

6. Has a nation a right to interfere in the concerns of another 
nation ? 

7. What government is to be recognized by other nations? 

8. What effect has a change of government on the treaties 
and obligations of a nation? 

9. How far does a nation possess exclusive jurisdiction over 
the adjoining sea? 

10. To whom does the open sea belong ? 

1 1. To whom does a river dividing two countries belong? 

12. What rights have foreigners residing in a country ? 



QUESTIOIhS. 295 

13. What persons are not subject to the laws of the land in 
which they may sojourn ? 

14. Why should ambassadors be independent of the jurisdic- 
tion of the country to which they are sent? 

15. When are treaties binding? 

16. Suppose one party violates the treaty ? 

17. When may a nation resort to war ? 

18. Is a formal declaration and notice to the enemy necessary 
before commencing hostilities ? 

19. What is the effect of a state of war on the commercial in- 
tercourse of the citizens of the countries at war? 

20. What is said of debts due the subjects of an enemy? 

21. What is said of an enemy's j)roperty at sea ? 

22. What is said of property sailing under the tiag of an enemy ? 

23. What is said of Privateering ? 

24. What must be done with all captured property? 

25. What is said respecting neutral nations ? 

26. What articles are neutrals prohibited from carrying ? 

27. To what does the attempt to violate a blockade subject 
the vessel and cargo ? 

28. What is said respecting hostile dispatches ? 

29. What is said of the Right of Search ? 

30. What is a Truce ? 

31. What is a Treaty ? 

32. What is said of Piracy ? 

33. What is said of the Slave Trade? 

34. What is said respecting the recognition of international 
law. 



CHAPTER XXL 



1, What is the Divine Law? 

2, What is the Constitutional Law, 

3, What is International Law ? 

4, What is Municipal Law? 

5, What is Statute Law ? 

6, What is the Common Law ? 

7, How far is the Common Law the law of the land in the 
United States ? 

8, What is the Civil Law? 

9, What is the Code ? 

10. What are the Institutes ? 

11. What are the Pandects ? 

12. What are the Novels of Justinian? 

13. What is the Canon Law ? 

14. What is Martial Law ? 

15. What is Parliamentary Law ? 



296 QUESTIONS. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

1. Wliat are necessary in every deliberative Assembly? 

2. What, is the duty of the Presiding Officer? 

3. How may bills be introduced? 

4. For what are Committees formed? 

5. What is the ol)ject of going into Committee of the Whole ? 
G. When is a motion to adjourn in order? 

7. W'hat is said of a motion to lay on the table? 

8. How is the previous question put ? 

9. What is said of a motion to strike out the enacting words? 

10. Who can move a reconsideration of a question ? 

11, Can a motion to reconsider be repeated ? 



1]N^DEX. 



A. 

PAGB 

Absolute Monarchy, 25 

Adjournmeut of Congress, lOS 

Admiralty Courts, ISO 

Admission of New States, 194 

Admission of States, 209 

Adoption of the Constitution, 70 

Ambassadors, 1 65 

Annapolis Convention, 53 

Appeals from State Courts, 18f> 

Appellate Jurisdiction, 185 

Appointments to Office,. 1G4 

Aristocracy, 2'J 

Articles of Confederation, 44 

Appeals from Presiding Officer's decision, 240 

A motion must be seconded, . 242 

A motion to adjourn, . 343 

A motion to fix the day, 343 

A motion to lay on the table 343 

A motion to postpone, 344 

A question is unJer debate, 344 



298 INDEX. 

PAOB 

A motion to strike out, 245 

A motion to reconsider, 245 



B. 

Bank of tlie United States 130 

Bankrupt Law, . . . 122 

Bill of Attainder, 135 

Bills of Credit, 189 

Blockade, 229 

Bills may be introduced, 241 



O. 

Canon Law, 237 

Captures at Sea, 226 

Charter Governments, 39 

City Government, 217 

Civil Law, 235 

Civil Society defined, 9 

Common Law, 234 

Compact of the Pilgrims, 35 

Compensation of the President, 157 

Confiscation of Piivate Property, 226 

Constitution defined, 30 

Constitution not a League, 78 

Constitutional Amendments, 195 

Consuls, 165 

Continental Congress, 41 

Counties, 216 

Court of Chancery, 187 



INDEX. 299 



PAGE 

Committees, 241 

Committee of the wliole, 241 



D. 

Declaring War, 126 

Defects of tlie Confederation 49 

Democracy, 27 

Direct Taxes, 91 

District of Columbia, 129 

Divine Law to be Obeyed, 32 

Divine Origin of Government, 13 

Duties of Neutrals, 228 

Deliberative Assemblies, 240 



E. 

Election by House of Representatives, 156 

Election of President, 153 

Elective Monarchy, 26 

English Cabinet, 169 

English Executive, 169 

English Government, 27 

Equality of Nations, 221 

Executive Department, 146 

Ex 'post facto Laws, 135 

F. 

Federal Convention, 55 

Foreigners, ^23 

Forms of Government, 24 



300 INDEX. 

PAGB 

Franklin's Remarks in Convention, 64 

Freedom of Speech and the Press, 200 

Fugitive Slaves, 194 



G. 

Government of Massachusetts, 87 

Government of Plymouth 38 

Governors of the States, 214 

Grand Jury, , 203 

Guarantee of Republican Government, 195 



H. 

Habeas Corpus, 134 

Hamilton's Plan of Government, 63 

Hamilton's Remarks on the Constitution, 69 

House of Commons, 89 

House of Lords, lOO 



I. 

Impairing Contracts, 142 

Impeachment, 94 

Imposts laid by a State, 143 

International Law, 220 



J. 

Journals of Congress, 107 

J udges appointed, , 176 

Judicial Circuits, 174 



INDEX. 301 



PAGE 



Judicial Department, , -..^ 

Judicial Power of the Senate, Iq^ 

Jurisdiction of State Courts, 01- 

Jurisdiction of U. S. Courts.. . i~q 

' 1 <o 

Justices of the Peace, 01 - 



L. 

Legal Tender, ^^^ 

Legislative Power vested in Congress, 85 

Letters of Marque ' , -lop 

Libertv and Law, o t 

.................... ^1^ 

Limited Monarchy, 9- 

Lord High Chancellor, -^q^ 



M. 

Mackintosh's Definition of Liberty, 23 

Madison's Testimony, ^g 

Man subject to Law, j-. 

Martial Law, oon 

Messages of the President, I(j7 

Mode of passing Laws, 110 

Monarchical Titles, ok 

Money drawn from the Treasury, I37 

Moral Law, 90^ 

Municipal Law, 23^ 



N. 
Xavigation Laws, 129 



303 UTDEX. 

O. 

PAGR 

Oath to support the Constitution, 197 

Object of Government, 9 

Ofli(ifers liable to Impeachment, 168 

Organization of U, S. Courts, 173 

Origin of Civil Society, 1 

Order of Precedence 243 

On a motion to commit, 244 

P. 

Pardoning Power, 160 

Parliamentary Law, 238 

People not Infallible, 29 

Pinckney's Plan of Government, 59 

Powers of Congress, 115 

Preamble to the Constitution, 77 

Privateering, 227 

Privileges of Ambassadors, 223 

Privileges of Congress, 109 

Privy Council, 170 

Prohibition of the Slave Trade, 133 

Proprietary Governments, 38 

Protective Tariff, 116 

Provincial Governments, 38 

Purchase of Louisiana, 210 

Presiding Officer, 240 

Previous question, 244 

Q. 

Qualifications of the President, 152 



IKDEX. S03 

PAGE 

Qualifications of Representatives, 89 

Qualifications of Senators, 98 



R. 

Randolph's Plan of Government, 58 

Ratification of Treaties, 163 

Religious Liberty, 199 

Removal from OflSce, 165 

Representative Instructions, 28 

Riglit of Petition, 201 

Right of Revolution, 34 

Right of Search, 230 

S. 

Senate, 96 

Slavery abolished, 206 

Sovereign Power, 13 

Speaker of the House, .». 94 

Stamped Act, 40 

State Constitutions, 208 

Statute Law, 234 

Suffrage, 16 

Superior Court of England, 187 



T. 

Territories, 194 

Theories of Representation, 28 

The State, U 

Titles of Nobility, 137 



304 IKDEX. 

rAOB 

Townships, 217 

Treason 190 

Treaties forbidden to the States, 133 

Treaty -making Power, 101 

Trial by Jury, 184 

Truces, 231 



V. 

Vacancies provided for, , 94 

Veto Pov/er, 113 

Vice-President, 88 



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that "■ every young person should carefully and conscientiously be tausht those 
distinctive ideas which constitute the substance of our Constitution, and which 
determine the policy of our politics : and to this end there oueht forthwith to 
be introduced into our schools a simple, comprehensive manual, whereby the 
needed tuition should be implanted at that early period. 

Schmitz's JIaniial of Ancient Sistory ; from the Ee- 
motest Times to the Overthro'?' of the Western Empire. A. d. 
47G, with copious Chronologi i Tables and Index. By Dr. 
Leoxhard ScHiirrz, T. E. p- A, Edinburgh. Price $1.75. 

Tlie Elements of InteV actual Fh iJosoph y. By Fraxcis 
Waylaxd. D.D. 1 v.]. 12mo. Price $1.75. 

This clearly-written bo^k. from the pen of a scholar of eminent ability, and 
I who has had the lar?*"..t experience in the education of the hiunan mind, 
is unq^uestionably at tae head of text-iooks in Intellectual Philosophy. 

An Outline of the Xecessary Laws of Thought: 

A Treatise on Pure and Applied Logic. By William Thom- 
son, D.D., Provost of the Queen's CoUege, Oxford. 1 vol. 12mo. 
Cloth. Price $1.75. 

This book ha? been adopted as a regtilar text-book in Harvard, Yale, 
Rochester, New York University, &c. 

FairchUds' Jloral Fhilosophy : or. The Science of 
ObJigation. By J. H. Falrchild-, President of Cberhn 
College. 1 vol. 12mo. Price $1.50. 

The aim of this volume is to set forth, more fully than has hitherto been 
done, the doctrine that virtue, in its elementary form, consists in benevo- 
lence, and that all forms of %-irTuous action are modifications of this principle. 

After presentinsr this view of oblicration. the author takes up the question? of 
Fiactical Ethics, Government and Personal Eiehts j.nd Duties, and treats 
them in their relation to Benevolence, aiming at a solution of the problems of 
right and wrong upon this simple principle. 

ijn,7i of ths above sent by mail, vost-vaid, on receipt of price. 



